You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Charing Cross. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Does the lease prevent you from renting out the flat, or working from home
• You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Charing Cross please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Charing Cross

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Charing Cross both have about fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I work for a busy estate agent office in Charing Cross where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Charing Cross conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner 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 kick-start 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 to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with 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 purchaser.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 275000 flat in Charing Cross next week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Charing Cross?

Charing Cross conveyancing on leasehold apartments typically involves administration charges invoiced by landlords agents :

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Charing Cross
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Charing Cross leasehold property is £350. For Charing Cross conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to provide answers.

I have had difficulty in seeking a lease extension in Charing Cross. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to determine the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Charing Cross premises is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 73.26 years.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Charing Cross what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Charing Cross. All leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• 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

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Barnsley Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

I inherited a studio flat in Charing Cross, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Charing Cross with over 90 years remaining are worth £198,000. The ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2102

You have 76 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.