My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Merton. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Merton who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Merton conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Merton which have about 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Merton. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Merton. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before 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 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 work for a long established estate agent office in Merton where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Merton conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 Merton conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Merton conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non Merton conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?

I am the registered owner of a split level flat in Merton, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Merton with over 90 years remaining are worth £240,000. The ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2080

You have 55 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £28,500 and £33,000 as well as costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Merton