I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Tilbury. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Tilbury - 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.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in Tilbury.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the service charge 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 management companies 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Tilbury which have approximately forty five years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Tilbury. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the value of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Tilbury from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Tilbury can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Tilbury leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. If you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.
• Some Tilbury leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 175000 maisonette in Tilbury next Friday . The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Tilbury?

Tilbury conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually requires the buyer’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is above £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Tilbury, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Tilbury with an extended lease are worth £233,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2102

With 76 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.