I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Dulwich. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Dulwich - 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.

Planning to exchange soon on a basement flat in Dulwich. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The physical extent of the property. This will be the property itself but could also incorporate a roof space or basement if applicable.
• Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I am looking at a couple of flats in Dulwich which have approximately fifty years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Dulwich. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Dulwich. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. A critical element 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 Dulwich where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Dulwich conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 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 has to be done 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.

Despite our best efforts, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Dulwich. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

if there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute 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 decide the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Dulwich flat is 60 Taymount Grange Taymount Rise in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the premium at £13,346 for a lease extension of a further 90 years This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 64 years.

I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Dulwich, conveyancing having been completed 2004. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Dulwich with an extended lease are worth £246,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2103

With 77 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.