I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Sands End. Before diving in I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Sands End - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Sands End which have about 50 years remaining on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Sands End. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Sands End where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Sands End conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 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 sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

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

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Sands End conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you talk with several firms including non Sands End conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

Despite our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Sands End. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement 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 First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the amount due.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Sands End flat is 29 Sisters Avenue in April 2013. The Tribunal camme to the conclusion that the entire freehold should be transferred by the landlord to the nominee purchaser. The price to be paid was the sum of £53,527. This had been arrived at by applying a deferment rate of 5.25% to the freehold reversion and relativity of 95.4% to the leasehold values. This case was in relation to 4 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 85.78 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Sands End what are the most common lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Sands End. All leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Barnsley Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.