I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Merton Park both have about fifty years unexpired on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Merton Park is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. For most purchasers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Merton Park conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Merton Park where we have experienced a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Merton Park conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. 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.

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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Merton Park with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Merton Park can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Merton Park leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. If you dont have the consents in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in advance.
• If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Merton Park home move. Where a duplicate share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

We expect to complete our sale of a £ 325000 apartment in Merton Park next Friday . The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Merton Park?

Merton Park conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes nine out of ten times necessitates fees being raised by management companies :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Merton Park
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Merton Park leasehold premises is £350. For Merton Park 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 supply the information.

Following years of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Merton Park. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

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

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Merton Park residence is 14 Nutwell Street in January 2014. The premium payable for the acquisition of a new lease of the subject premises was in the sum of £30,523 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 62.94 years.

Are there common deficiencies that you see in leases for Merton Park properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Merton Park is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Accord Mortgages Ltd, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Merton Park - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

Is anyone aware of any major works on the horizon that could increase the service costs? You should be aware if it is less than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. A short lease means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out what this will be. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the premises for two years in order to be entitled to exercise a lease extension.