Looking forward to complete next month on a basement flat in Crook Log. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The physical extent of the property. This will be the apartment itself but may include a loft or basement if applicable.
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

I am looking at a couple of flats in Crook Log both have in the region of forty five years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Crook Log. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Crook Log. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation 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. Strange as it may seem, 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 be sure 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 a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Crook Log where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Crook Log conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 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 simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Crook Log from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Crook Log can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Crook Log leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Organising a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Crook Log conveyancing transaction. Where a new share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Crook Log conveyancing firm to assist?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Crook Log conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Crook Log property 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 was in relation to 13 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 76 years.

I inherited a leasehold flat in Crook Log, conveyancing was carried out 7 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Crook Log with an extended lease are worth £255,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2090

With just 64 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £15,200 and £17,600 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.