I've found a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Addington. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Addington ?

Most houses in Addington are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Addington in which case you should be shopping around for a Addington conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example obtaining the landlord’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your lawyer should report to you on the legal implications.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Addington where we see a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Addington conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor 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 kick-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 wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Addington conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Addington conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you talk with two or three firms including non Addington conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• 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 advice for leasehold conveyancing in Addington with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Addington can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Addington levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Addington.
• Some Addington leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Addington conveyancing transaction. Where a duplicate share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £ 200000 flat in Addington next week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Addington?

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

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Addington leasehold property 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 supply the information.

Having spent months of dialogue 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?

if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the price.

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

I acquired a 1 bedroom flat in Addington, conveyancing was carried out 1998. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Addington with a long lease are worth £233,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2105

With only 79 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £12,400 and £14,200 plus costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.