Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Grays. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Grays - 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 have recently realised that I have 72 years unexpired on my lease in Grays. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Grays.

I've found a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have since found out that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Grays. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Grays ?

The majority of houses in Grays are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Grays so you should seriously consider looking for a Grays conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the landlord’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer will advise you fully on all the issues.

Completion in due on the sale of our £ 400000 apartment in Grays in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Grays?

For most leasehold sales in Grays conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Grays
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Grays leasehold property is £350. For Grays 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 provide answers.

After months of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Grays. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to decide the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Grays flat is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 76 years.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Grays what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Grays. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, The Mortgage Works, and Clydesdale all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Grays - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Best to be warned if a new roof is being put on or some other significant cost is pending that will be shared amongst the leasehold owners and could well materially impact the level of the maintenance charges or require a one time payment. Is anyone aware of any major works in the near future that will increase the service charges? The majority of Grays leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the building invoiced on behalf of the landlord. If you purchase the property you will have to pay this liability, usually periodically throughout the year. This may differ from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a large amount, say about £50-£100 but you should to check it because occasionally it can be prohibitively expensive.