Due to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Langley. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
• Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
• Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the property, or working from home
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I own a leasehold house in Langley. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Langley who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Langley 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 freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Langley both have approximately forty five years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I work for a long established estate agent office in Langley where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Langley conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means 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 before, or simultaneously with 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 purchaser.

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 150000 maisonette in Langley next week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Langley?

Langley conveyancing on leasehold apartments often requires the buyer’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be willing to do so. They may charge a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is above £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Langley. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Langley conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Langley residence is 164 Nestles Avenue in October 2013. The tribunal agreed with the proposed price of £20,158 for the freehold and determined that that sum is the amount to be paid into court This case affected 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 69 years.

I inherited a studio flat in Langley, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding flats in Langley with over 90 years remaining are worth £251,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2093

With just 67 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £15,200 and £17,600 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.