Looking forward to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in North Sheen. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Defining your rights in relation to common areas in the building.For instance, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or hallways?

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Repair and maintenance of the flat

The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide. For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in North Sheen please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in North Sheen

I have just appointed agents to market my basement apartment in North Sheen.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear 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 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I work for a busy estate agency in North Sheen where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local North Sheen conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as 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 purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in North Sheen from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in North Sheen can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed 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 installed wooden flooring? North Sheen leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. If you fail to have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.

Some North Sheen leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and delays many a North Sheen home move. If a duplicate share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £400000 garden flat in North Sheen on Tuesday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in North Sheen?

North Sheen conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically involves administration charges raised by managing agents :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in North Sheen
• 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 North Sheen leasehold premises is £350. For North Sheen 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 answers.

I am the registered owner of a ground-floor 1960’s flat in North Sheen. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum payable for a lease extension?

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 Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a North Sheen flat is Flat 1 30 Ennismore Avenue in September 2010. the Tribunal adopted and arrived at a premium for the lease extension of £29, 900 This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 68.34 years.