I am looking at a couple of apartments in Southend On Sea both have approximately 50 years left on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Southend On Sea. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Southend On Sea. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Southend On Sea with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Southend On Sea can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Southend On Sea state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.
• A minority of Southend On Sea leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a time consuming formality and delays many a Southend On Sea home move. If a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 500000 garden flat in Southend On Sea in 5 days. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Southend On Sea?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Southend On Sea conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Southend On Sea
• 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 solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Southend On Sea leasehold premises is £350. For Southend On Sea 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 required to provide answers.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Southend On Sea what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Southend On Sea. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• 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 as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.

I invested in buying a basement flat in Southend On Sea, conveyancing formalities finalised 10 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent flats in Southend On Sea with a long lease are worth £268,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2090

With just 64 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £17,100 and £19,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.