I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in St Mary Cray. Conveyancing solicitors assured me 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 St Mary Cray should include some of the following:

• The physical extent of the property. This will be the flat itself but might incorporate a loft or basement if appropriate.
• Defining your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease provide for a right of way over a path or hallways?
• Does the lease prevent you from letting out the flat, or working from home
• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• 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
• What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in St Mary Cray. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in St Mary Cray who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a St Mary Cray 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 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in St Mary Cray both have approximately forty five years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in St Mary Cray is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. For most buyers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property 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 premises 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 St Mary Cray 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 any new 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.

I work for a long established estate agency in St Mary Cray where we see a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local St Mary Cray conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that 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 need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

After months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in St Mary Cray. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a St Mary Cray conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a St Mary Cray property is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 50.57 years.

What makes a St Mary Cray lease defective?

Leasehold conveyancing in St Mary Cray is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• 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

You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, The Mortgage Works, and Bank of Ireland all have express requirements 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 provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

I am the registered owner of a basement flat in St Mary Cray, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar properties in St Mary Cray with over 90 years remaining are worth £265,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2087

With only 61 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £19,000 and £22,000 as well as costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.