Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Lea Bridge. 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 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. 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 work for a reputable estate agent office in Lea Bridge where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Lea Bridge conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser 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 simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Lea Bridge conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Lea Bridge conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Lea Bridge conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Lea Bridge who can give a testimonial?
• What are the legal fees for lease extension work?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Lea Bridge from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Lea Bridge can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Lea Bridge leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
• If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of 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 clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Lea Bridge conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

I am the leaseholder of a first flat in Lea Bridge. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Lea Bridge conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Lea Bridge property is 104 Nightingale Road in May 2009. The Tribunal's Decision is that the premium torbe paid for the enfranchisement in this case is £112,174 This case related to 10 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 71.25 years.

What makes a Lea Bridge lease problematic?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Lea Bridge. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain sections are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Barclays Direct all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

I own a garden flat in Lea Bridge, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable flats in Lea Bridge with over 90 years remaining are worth £230,000. The ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease ceases on 21st October 2082

With just 56 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £28,500 and £33,000 plus 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 renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.