Planning to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Stansted. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Stansted should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

I have just started marketing my basement flat in Stansted.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the invoice 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 managing agents 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold house in Stansted. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Stansted who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Stansted conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Stansted where we see a few flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Stansted conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. This means that the proposed purchaser 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 simultaneously with 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.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Stansted what are the most frequent lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Stansted is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are erroneous. 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 building
• Insurance obligations
• 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

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Santander, The Mortgage Works, and Barclays Direct all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

I own a garden flat in Stansted, conveyancing having been completed 8 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? Comparable flats in Stansted with an extended lease are worth £187,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2105

You have 79 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.