I own a leasehold house in Coney Hall. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Coney Hall who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Coney Hall conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Coney Hall both have about fifty years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Coney Hall. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Coney Hall conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Coney Hall conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Coney Hall conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Can they put you in touch with client in Coney Hall who can give a testimonial?

Completion in due on the sale of our £300000 garden flat in Coney Hall next week. The freeholder has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Coney Hall?

Coney Hall conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves fees being invoiced by landlords agents :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Coney Hall
• 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 Coney Hall leasehold property is £350. For Coney Hall 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 supply the information.

Following years of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Coney Hall. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Where there is a missing landlord 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 make a decision on the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Coney Hall flat is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case affected 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 50.57 years.

What makes a Coney Hall lease defective?

Leasehold conveyancing in Coney Hall is not unique. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• 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 will encounter 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. Barclays , Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have very detailed 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, forcing the purchaser to pull out.