Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Walton. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Walton - 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.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Walton. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• 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
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

I own a leasehold house in Walton. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage are in place. 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 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Walton who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Walton conveyancing practitioner 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 landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Walton. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

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).

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can I apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Walton conveyancing firm to help?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to decide the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Walton flat is 147 Redford Close in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the lease extension premium to be at £4,200 This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 82.93 years.

What makes a Walton lease unacceptable for security purposes?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Walton. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain sections are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts 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

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Clydesdale all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Walton Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

Generally speaking the cost for major works are not included within maintenance charges, although there some managing agents in Walton ask leaseholders to pay into a reserve fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for larger works.