I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Highams Park. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Highams Park - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

Expecting to complete next month on a leasehold property in Highams Park. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Highams Park should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
• Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
• Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business
• 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 you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Highams Park.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the invoice 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 recently bought a leasehold flat in Highams Park. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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 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 Highams Park where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Highams Park conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

After years of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Highams Park. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Highams Park conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Highams Park flat is 48 Greenleaf Road in December 2009. the lessees sought to exercise their right to purchase the freehold from the landlord by way of collective enfranchisement in accordance with the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.The landlord could not be found.A vesting order was granted from the Bow County Court on 10 September 2007 (Claim No: 8BO04141). The Tribunal held that the premium to be paid was £3,850 This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 104 years.

Highams Park Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

Where a Highams Park lease has less than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the flat. It is worth checking with your lender that they are happy with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. For most Highams Parklease extensions you would need to own the premises for a couple of years before you are legally able to exercise a lease extension. Does the lease contain onerous restrictions?