Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold flat in Tulse Hill. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Tulse Hill who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Tulse Hill conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Tulse Hill. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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 am employed by a long established estate agent office in Tulse Hill where we see a number of flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Tulse Hill conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser 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 simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 finding a Tulse Hill conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Tulse Hill conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non Tulse Hill conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

What are the charges for lease extension work?

Completion in due on our sale of a £350000 maisonette in Tulse Hill next Thursday . The managing agents has quoted £372 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Tulse Hill?

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

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Tulse Hill
• 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 Tulse Hill leasehold property is £350. For Tulse Hill 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 provide the information.

Following months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Tulse Hill. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the amount due.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Tulse Hill property is 8 Deerbrook Road in May 2010. the Tribunal held that the enfranchisement price, in accordance with section 32 and Schedule 6 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £22,820, payable by the Applicants. By an order of the Lambeth County Court dated 17 June 2009 the case had been transferred to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal for its determination of the premium payable This case related to 3 flats.