I own a leasehold flat in Welling. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Welling who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Welling conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Welling which have about 50 years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Welling is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the salability of the property. The majority of purchasers 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 property 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 Welling 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 You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Welling conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Welling conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you talk with two or three firms including non Welling conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Welling who can give a testimonial?
• What are the costs for lease extension work?

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 500000 garden flat in Welling in just under a week. The landlords agents 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 exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Welling?

Welling conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates administration charges levied by managing agents :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Welling
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 Welling leasehold property is £350. For Welling 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 obliged to provide the information.

Following years of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Welling. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Welling property is 103a Footscray Road in January 2014. The tribunal determines that the premium payable for the extended lease should be £34,500 according to the expert witness valuation calculation This case affected 1 flat.

What makes a Welling lease unacceptable for security purposes?

Leasehold conveyancing in Welling is not unique. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Coventry Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Welling Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

Make sure you find out if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Welling. If you love the apartmentin Welling but your cat can’t live with you then you will be presented with a difficult compromise. Are there any major works in the near future that will likely increase the maintenance costs? Where a Welling lease has less than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the flat. Check with your mortgage company that they are content with the length of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most Wellinglease extensions you would be be obliged to have been the owner of the property for two years before you are legally able to carry out a lease extension.