Expecting to complete next month on a garden flat in Plumstead. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The total extent of the property. This will be the apartment itself but might include a roof space or cellar if applicable.

Are pets allowed in the flat?

Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Plumstead please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Plumstead

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed flat in Plumstead.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a yearly maintenance 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Plumstead. Conveyancing and TSB mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Plumstead who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Plumstead conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a two flats in Plumstead both have approximately 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Plumstead is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the premises. For most buyers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises 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 a residence 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 Plumstead conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend 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.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £225000 maisonette in Plumstead next Wednesday . The managing agents has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Plumstead?

Plumstead conveyancing on leasehold flats ordinarily results in administration charges invoiced by management companies :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Plumstead
• 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 Plumstead leasehold premises is £350. For Plumstead 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 the information.

I am the leaseholder of a garden flat in Plumstead. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for a lease extension?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Plumstead conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Plumstead flat is 103a Footscray Road in January 2014. The tribunal determines that the premium payable for the extended lease should be £34,500 according to the expert witness valuation calculation This case related to 1 flat.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Plumstead