Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Chellaston. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Chellaston - 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've recently bought a leasehold house in Chellaston. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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 am employed by a busy estate agency in Chellaston where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Chellaston conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer 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 has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Chellaston conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Chellaston conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you talk with several firms including non Chellaston conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How many lease extensions have they conducted in Chellaston in the last twenty four months?
• What are the legal fees for lease extension conveyancing?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Chellaston with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Chellaston can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Chellaston charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Chellaston.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Chellaston home move. Where a new share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

I acquired a 1st floor flat in Chellaston, conveyancing formalities finalised 8 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Chellaston with a long lease are worth £180,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2096

You have 70 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.