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

Planning to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Chingford. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Defining your rights in relation to common areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease permit a right of way over a path or staircase?
• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Chingford please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Chingford

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Chingford. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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).

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Chingford conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Chingford conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Chingford conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

We expect to complete the sale of our £ 475000 apartment in Chingford next Tuesday . The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Chingford?

Chingford conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually necessitates administration charges raised by management companies :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Chingford
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Chingford leasehold premises is £350. For Chingford 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 required to supply the information.

Having spent years of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Chingford. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the amount due.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Chingford property is 201 & 201a St. Barnabas Road in October 2013. The Tribunal decided that the price to be paid by the Applicants for the freehold interest is £20,071. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 69.26 years.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Chingford what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Chingford. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

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. Halifax, Barnsley Building Society, and Clydesdale all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

I bought a 1 bedroom flat in Chingford, conveyancing was carried out 2012. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable properties in Chingford with an extended lease are worth £185,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2092

With 66 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.