I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in South Woodford. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in South Woodford ?

The majority of houses in South Woodford are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in South Woodford so you should seriously consider looking for a South Woodford conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will appraise you on the various issues.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in South Woodford. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. However, 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 be sure 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 work for a reputable estate agency in South Woodford where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local South Woodford conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. 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 purchaser.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 475000 garden flat in South Woodford next Wednesday . The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in South Woodford?

For the majority of leasehold sales in South Woodford conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in South Woodford
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for South Woodford leasehold premises is £350. For South Woodford 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 the information.

Notwithstanding our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in negotiating a lease extension in South Woodford. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a South Woodford premises is 135 Maybank Road in January 2013. The Tribunal determined that the price to be paid by the tenants for the grant of a new lease is £10,592 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 71.2 years.

Are there common defects that you see in leases for South Woodford properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in South Woodford. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, The Mortgage Works, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

I acquired a studio flat in South Woodford, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable properties in South Woodford with an extended lease are worth £225,000. The ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2097

With just 71 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £11,400 and £13,200 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.