I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Canvey Island. Before diving in I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Canvey Island - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Canvey Island which have about fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Canvey Island. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Canvey Island. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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 work for a busy estate agent office in Canvey Island where we see a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Canvey Island conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. 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 disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 200000 flat in Canvey Island next Monday . The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Canvey Island?

Canvey Island conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes more often than not requires the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions most will be willing to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

I purchased a 1st floor flat in Canvey Island, conveyancing was carried out in 1998. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar flats in Canvey Island with over 90 years remaining are worth £191,000. The ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2082

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

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.