I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Tilbury. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Tilbury should include some of the following:

• The physical extent of the property. This will be the flat itself but might incorporate a loft or basement if appropriate.
• Defining your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease provide for a right of way over a path or hallways?
• Does the lease prevent you from letting out the flat, or working from home
• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
• What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Tilbury. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Tilbury who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Tilbury conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Tilbury both have approximately forty five years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I work for a long established estate agency in Tilbury where we see a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Tilbury conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed 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 purchaser.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Tilbury what are the most common lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Tilbury is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could have 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. Birmingham Midshires, Skipton Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

I inherited a basement flat in Tilbury, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Tilbury with over 90 years remaining are worth £265,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2087

With only 61 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £19,000 and £22,000 plus costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.