Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Coombe. Before I get started I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Coombe - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I have just started marketing my basement flat in Coombe.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is discharge 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I've found a house that appears to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently found out that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Coombe. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Coombe are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Coombe in which case you should be shopping around for a Coombe conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor should advise you fully on all the issues.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Coombe both have in the region of forty five years remaining on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Coombe is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. For most purchasers and banks, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Coombe conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I work for a busy estate agency in Coombe where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Coombe conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer 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 has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

After years of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Coombe. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Coombe residence is 29 Woodstock Road in April 2014. the Tribunal determined that the premiums to be paid into court in respect of the purchase of the freehold registered at HMLR under Title N0.SY3997 should be £7,217. This case affected 4 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 98 years.