I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Kennington. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Kennington - 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’m about to sell my garden apartment in Kennington.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is pay 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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 own a leasehold flat in Kennington. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Kennington who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Kennington conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a two apartments in Kennington both have approximately 50 years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Kennington. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Kennington where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Kennington conveyancing firms. Could you clarify 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer 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 at the same time as completion of the sale.

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 buyer.

After months of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Kennington. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Kennington conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Kennington residence is Ground Floor Flat 39 Bronsart Road in May 2010. Following a vesting order by West London County Court the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal concluded that the price to be paid for the extended lease of the premises was Thirteen Thousand Two hundred pounds (£13,200) in accordance with the valuation. The extended lease was granted for a term of 90 years from the expiry date of the Lease and at a peppercorn ground rent from the date of the vesting order. This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 74.77 years.

I inherited a split level flat in Kennington, conveyancing formalities finalised 2001. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding flats in Kennington with a long lease are worth £180,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2094

With 68 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.