Back In 2005, I bought a leasehold house in Walkington. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage are in place. 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 practitioner in Walkington who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Walkington conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured 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 am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Walkington both have approximately forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Walkington is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Walkington conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Walkington. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. It is an essential part 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Walkington with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Walkington can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Walkington leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Walkington home move. If a duplicate share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Are there common defects that you see in leases for Walkington properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Walkington. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• 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

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. Barclays , Coventry 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 does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I am the registered owner of a 2 bed flat in Walkington, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent flats in Walkington with over 90 years remaining are worth £266,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2089

With 63 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £20,900 and £24,200 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 in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.