Looking forward to complete next month on a leasehold property in Canning Town. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• Setting out your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease include a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
• Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the property, or working from home
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Canning Town where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Canning Town conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 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 simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Canning Town conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Canning Town conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Canning Town conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Canning Town who can give a testimonial?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Canning Town from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Canning Town can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Canning Town charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Canning Town.
• A minority of Canning Town leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 buyers or their solicitors.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Canning Town conveyancing deal. Where a new share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

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

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to decide the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Canning Town residence is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 69.77 years.

What are the frequently found deficiencies that you come across in leases for Canning Town properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Canning Town. All leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain sections are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair 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.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You may have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Skipton Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society 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.

I acquired a 1 bedroom flat in Canning Town, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Canning Town with an extended lease are worth £242,000. The ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2105

With just 79 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.