Due to complete next month on a leasehold property in Becontree Heath. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Becontree Heath should include some of the following:

• Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold house in Becontree Heath. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Becontree Heath who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Becontree Heath conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Becontree Heath which have in the region of 50 years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

A lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I work for a reputable estate agency in Becontree Heath where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Becontree Heath conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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 purchaser.

Having spent years of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Becontree Heath. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Becontree Heath conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Becontree Heath flat is 49 Aldborough Road South in July 2012. The Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of the new lease was £13,925 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 61.36 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Becontree Heath what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Becontree Heath. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• 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

You could have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Barnsley Building Society, and TSB all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.