Planning to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Lambeth. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

The total extent of the demise. This will be the flat itself but could also include a loft or cellar if appropriate.

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

Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?

Repair and maintenance of the flat

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Lambeth please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Lambeth

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

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. 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 busy estate agent office in Lambeth where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Lambeth conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start 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. 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 has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Lambeth conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Lambeth conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Lambeth conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?

Can they put you in touch with client in Lambeth who can give a testimonial?

Completion in due on the sale of our £275000 flat in Lambeth in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Lambeth?

For most leasehold sales in Lambeth conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Lambeth
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Lambeth leasehold property is £350. For Lambeth conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to provide answers.

I own a ground floor flat in Lambeth. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?

in cases where there is a missing landlord 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 First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Lambeth flat is Flats 12A & 19, Evelyn Mansions Carlisle Place in June 2009. The Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the new lease of Flat 12A is £168,824, For the other flat the price was set at £169,110 This case was in relation to 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 56 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Lambeth