I've found a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have since been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Beaconsfield. Conveyancing solicitors have are soon to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Beaconsfield ?

Most houses in Beaconsfield are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Beaconsfield so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Beaconsfield conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’spermission to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your lawyer will advise you fully on all the issues.

I own a leasehold house in Beaconsfield. Conveyancing and TSB mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Beaconsfield who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Beaconsfield conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Beaconsfield. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Beaconsfield where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Beaconsfield conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Beaconsfield from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Beaconsfield can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• Some Beaconsfield leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Beaconsfield home move. Where a duplicate share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

I acquired a ground floor flat in Beaconsfield, conveyancing having been completed 1995. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Beaconsfield with an extended lease are worth £205,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2082

You have 56 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £28,500 and £33,000 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.