I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Swiss Cottage. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the building.For example, does the lease include a right of way over a path or hallways?
• Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• 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

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Swiss Cottage which have approximately forty five years left on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Swiss Cottage. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Swiss Cottage. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. A critical element 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 employed by a long established estate agency in Swiss Cottage where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Swiss Cottage conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to 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 to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, 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 buyer.

I own a a ground floor purpose built flat in Swiss Cottage. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?

if there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Swiss Cottage residence is First Floor Flat 20 Fitzjohns Avenue in July 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premiums to be paid for new leases in respect of the Raised Ground Floor Flat and the First Floor Flat were to be calculated as: Raised Ground Floor: £765,175.14 First Floor: £601,617.77 This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 16.83 and 16.43.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Swiss Cottage what are the most common lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Swiss Cottage. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Chelsea Building Society, and Clydesdale all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

I acquired a split level flat in Swiss Cottage, conveyancing having been completed 10 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable flats in Swiss Cottage with an extended lease are worth £264,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease finishes on 21st October 2090

With only 64 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £16,200 and £18,600 as well as professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other 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 before getting professional advice.