Expecting to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Church End. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder

I’m about to sell my basement flat in Church End.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear 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 management companies 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Church End where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Church End conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that 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 proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. 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.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £250000 garden flat in Church End next week. The landlords agents has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Church End?

Church End conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often involves the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions most will be willing to assist. They are entitled invoice 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 cases it is above £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

After months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Church End. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to decide the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Church End premises is Ground Floor 110 Station Road in June 2013. The Tribunal found that the premium payable for a lease extension should be £31,665. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 56.65 years.

Are there frequently found problems that you see in leases for Church End properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Church End. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Skipton Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions 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 purchaser to pull out.