I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Belmont. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Belmont - 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.

Jane (my partner) and I may need to sub-let our Belmont ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Belmont conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Belmont do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

I own a leasehold flat in Belmont. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage organised. 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 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Belmont who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Belmont conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Belmont. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. Strange as it may seem, 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 employed by a reputable estate agency in Belmont where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Belmont conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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 need not have 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.

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 purchaser.

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

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Belmont premises is 33 The Maisonettes Alberta Avenue in June 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of a new lease be the sum of £20,680 (Twenty Thousand six hundred and eighty pounds). This case affected 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 60.43 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Belmont - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Best to be warned if a new roof is being installed or some other significant cost is due shortly to be shared between the leasehold owners and will materially increase the the maintenance fees or necessitate a specific invoice.