Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Stilton. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Stilton - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Stilton. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Stilton who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Stilton conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Stilton which have approximately 50 years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Stilton. The lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

I work for a long established estate agent office in Stilton where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Stilton conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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.

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 purchaser.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Stilton conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Stilton conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Stilton conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
• What volume of lease extensions has the firm conducted in Stilton in the last twenty four months?

I own a split level flat in Stilton, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Stilton with a long lease are worth £230,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2096

You have 70 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as 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 cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.