I am hoping to complete next month on a garden flat in Notting Hill. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

Does the lease prevent you from letting out the flat, or working from home

You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Notting Hill please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Notting Hill

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Notting Hill. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation 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. It is an essential part 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 a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Notting Hill where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Notting Hill conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means 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 has to be done prior to, or at the same time as 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Notting Hill conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Notting Hill conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non Notting Hill conveyancing practices prior to 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?

What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Notting Hill in the last 12 months?

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £375000 flat in Notting Hill in just under a week. The management company has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Notting Hill?

Notting Hill conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes nine out of ten times results in administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Notting Hill
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Notting Hill leasehold property is £350. For Notting Hill 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 required to supply answers.

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

Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to determine the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Notting Hill property is 2 Grove House 95 Addison Road in October 2013. the Tribunal decided that the premium to bepaid for a new lease is £50,050. This case affected 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 68.4 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Notting Hill