I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Porthleven. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Porthleven - 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 Porthleven. Conveyancing and Alliance & Leicester mortgage organised. 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 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Porthleven who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Porthleven conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Porthleven. Do I have any liability for 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. 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 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 a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Porthleven where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Porthleven conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities 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 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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Porthleven conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Porthleven conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Porthleven conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Porthleven in the last twenty four months?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Porthleven who can give a testimonial?

Leasehold Conveyancing in Porthleven - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

Where a Porthleven lease has fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the property. Check with your bank that they are happy with residual term of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and it is worth discovering how much this will be. For most Porthlevenlease extensions you would be be obliged to have owned the property for 24 months in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension. It would be prudent to enquire if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For example it is fairly common in Porthleven leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Porthleven. If you like the apartmentin Porthleven but your dog is not allowed to move with you then you will be presented with a hard decision.