I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Dursley. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Dursley - 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.

Planning to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Dursley. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Dursley should include some of the following:

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Are pets allowed in the flat?

Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or having a home office for business

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Dursley please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Dursley

I work for a reputable estate agency in Dursley where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Dursley conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 need not have 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 before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £425000 maisonette in Dursley next week. The freeholder has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Dursley?

Dursley conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes nine out of ten times involves administration charges invoiced by management companies :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Dursley
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Dursley leasehold property is £350. For Dursley conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply the information.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Dursley what are the most frequent lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Dursley is not unique. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Virgin Money, and Barclays Direct all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

I own a garden flat in Dursley, conveyancing was carried out in 1997. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Dursley with a long lease are worth £225,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2078

With only 55 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £25,700 and £29,600 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account 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 before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Dursley