Expecting to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Walton on the Naze. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder

Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?

Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or having a home office for business

You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Walton on the Naze please enquire of your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Walton on the Naze

Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold house in Walton on the Naze. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Walton on the Naze who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Walton on the Naze conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a two flats in Walton on the Naze which have approximately fifty years left on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Walton on the Naze. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Walton on the Naze where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Walton on the Naze conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £275000 garden flat in Walton on the Naze next Thursday . The freeholder has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Walton on the Naze?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Walton on the Naze conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Walton on the Naze
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Walton on the Naze leasehold premises is £350. For Walton on the Naze conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide the information.

I bought a leasehold flat in Walton on the Naze, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar flats in Walton on the Naze with a long lease are worth £178,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2101

With only 76 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 plus costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Walton on the Naze