I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor apartment in Crayford.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – 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 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.

I've found a house that appears to be perfect, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have since been informed that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Crayford. Conveyancing solicitors have are soon to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Crayford ?

Most houses in Crayford are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Crayford in which case you should be shopping around for a Crayford conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

I own a leasehold flat in Crayford. Conveyancing and Bank of Ireland mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Crayford who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Crayford conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note 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 work for a busy estate agent office in Crayford where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Crayford conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. 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.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £ 175000 flat in Crayford in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Crayford?

Crayford conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates the purchaser’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions most will be willing to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is above £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

Having spent years of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Crayford. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Where there is a missing freeholder or if 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 Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the price.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Crayford flat is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76 years.

I own a basement flat in Crayford, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding properties in Crayford with an extended lease are worth £228,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2100

With 74 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.