Looking forward to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Westminster. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
• You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
• What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Westminster.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Westminster. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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 a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Westminster where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Westminster conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as 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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Westminster with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Westminster can be reduced where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• A minority of Westminster leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate is often a lengthy formality and slows down many a Westminster home move. Where a reissued share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Having spent months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Westminster. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Westminster conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Westminster residence is Flats 12A & 19, Evelyn Mansions Carlisle Place in June 2009. The Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the new lease of Flat 12A is £168,824, For the other flat the price was set at £169,110 This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 56 years.

I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Westminster, conveyancing formalities finalised 2012. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Westminster with over 90 years remaining are worth £195,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2105

With only 79 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £7,600 and £8,800 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.