Planning to complete next month on a basement flat in Colliers Wood. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Colliers Wood should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• Defining your rights in relation to the communal areas in the building.For example, does the lease grant a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
• You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

I’m about to sell my basement apartment in Colliers Wood.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you discharge the invoice 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 unless 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Colliers Wood. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. It is an essential part 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).

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Colliers Wood where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Colliers Wood conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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. This means 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 before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Completion in due on the sale of our £ 225000 apartment in Colliers Wood on Thursday in a week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Colliers Wood?

Colliers Wood conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally involves the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions most will be willing to do so. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can a leaseholder apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Colliers Wood conveyancing firm to assist?

Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Colliers Wood conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Colliers Wood property is 14 Nutwell Street in January 2014. The premium payable for the acquisition of a new lease of the subject premises was in the sum of £30,523 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 62.94 years.

I own a leasehold flat in Colliers Wood, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding flats in Colliers Wood with over 90 years remaining are worth £199,000. The ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease ceases on 21st October 2102

With 76 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £10,500 and £12,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.