I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Bromley. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Bromley - 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 Bromley. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Bromley 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 this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Bromley conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Bromley both have approximately 50 years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Bromley. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

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

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. A critical element 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Bromley from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bromley can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Bromley levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bromley.
• Some Bromley 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 put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The 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 lawyers.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Bromley conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such issues? Can you recommend a Bromley conveyancing firm to assist?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to determine the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Bromley flat is 26 Rhondda Grove in June 2009. The net price payable by the leaseholders as determined by the Tribunal was £3,015.13. This comprised £11,300 premium for the reversion less £8,284.87 costs as ordered by the County Court.

Bromley Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

The best form of lease arrangement is if the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the tenants have control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often employed where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. How is the lease structured? Please note if it is no more than 80 years it will impact the salability of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are content with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for two years in order to be entitled to carry out a lease extension.