I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Upney. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Upney - 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 Upney. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Upney who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Upney conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Upney. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. A critical element 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).

I work for a long established estate agent office in Upney where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Upney conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process 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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. 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 sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Upney. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount payable for a lease extension?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Upney conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Upney flat is 49 Aldborough Road South in July 2012. The Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of the new lease was £13,925 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 61.36 years.

Are there common defects that you come across in leases for Upney properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Upney is not unique. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Coventry Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have express requirements 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, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Upney