I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Addington. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Addington - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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 just started marketing my basement flat in Addington.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Addington. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Addington who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Addington conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Addington where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Addington conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate 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 proposed purchaser 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 has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £150000 maisonette in Addington next week. The landlords agents has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Addington?

Addington conveyancing on leasehold apartments often necessitates the purchaser’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to assist. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Following months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Addington. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to judgment on the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Addington flat is 26 Manor Road in July 2010. the Tribunal decided that price to be paid for the freehold was £12,420 This case related to 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 76.75 and 88.83.