I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Oakdale. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Oakdale - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I own a leasehold house in Oakdale. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Oakdale who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

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. It is not necessary to instruct a Oakdale conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Oakdale. Do I have any liability for 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. Strange as it may seem, 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 am employed by a busy estate agency in Oakdale where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Oakdale conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.

Are there common problems that you witness in leases for Oakdale properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Oakdale is not unique. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• 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

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Chelsea Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester 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 problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Oakdale Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

You should be aware that where the lease has fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the apartment. Check with your mortgage company that they are happy with the length of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Oakdalelease extensions you would need to own the residence for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease.