I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Arkley. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Arkley - 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Arkley. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Arkley who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Arkley conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Arkley. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Arkley where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Arkley conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence 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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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.

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

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Arkley can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Arkley state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you fail to have the paperwork in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in advance.
• A minority of Arkley leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual 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 lawyers.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Arkley conveyancing deal. If a reissued share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can one make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Arkley conveyancing firm to assist?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Arkley conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Arkley property is Ground Floor Maisonette 17 Milton Road in January 2014. The Tribunal determined the premium payable by the Applicant to the should be £13,299 This case affected 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 71.73 years.

I invested in buying a ground floor flat in Arkley, conveyancing formalities finalised 6 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable properties in Arkley with an extended lease are worth £261,000. The ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2090

You have 64 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £15,200 and £17,600 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more detailed 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 you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.