I today plan to offer on a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Addington. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Addington are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Addington in which case you should be looking for a Addington conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the landlord’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your solicitor will advise you fully on all the issues.

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a Addington conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Addington conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Addington conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Addington who can give a testimonial?

What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Addington from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Addington can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Addington levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Addington.

If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Addington state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you fail to have the approvals in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer in advance.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a Addington conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your lawyers. 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 under 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the sale of our £225000 maisonette in Addington next week. The freeholder has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Addington?

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

• Addressing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Addington
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Addington leasehold premises is £350. For Addington 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 obliged to provide the information.

After years of negotiations we cannot 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 absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement 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 Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Addington premises is 26 Manor Road in July 2010. the Tribunal decided that price to be paid for the freehold was £12,420 This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76.75 and 88.83.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Addington what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Addington. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Skipton Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.