Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Belmont.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am attracted to a two flats in Belmont both have in the region of forty five years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Belmont where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Belmont conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £275000 apartment in Belmont next week. The landlords agents has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Belmont?

Belmont conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually involves the buyer’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions most will be willing to assist. They are entitled levy a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

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

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Belmont conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Belmont flat 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 unexpired residue of the current lease was 60.43 years.

What makes a Belmont lease unacceptable for security purposes?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Belmont. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

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. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.