I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have just been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Walton on the Naze. Conveyancing advisers have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Walton on the Naze ?

Most houses in Walton on the Naze are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Walton on the Naze so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Walton on the Naze conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will advise you fully on all the issues.

I own a leasehold flat in Walton on the Naze. Conveyancing and Chelsea Building Society mortgage are in place. 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 1992. 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 make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Walton on the Naze conveyancing solicitor 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 legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Walton on the Naze where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Walton on the Naze conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 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 at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Walton on the Naze with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Walton on the Naze can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Walton on the Naze leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.

A minority of Walton on the Naze leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.

If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current 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 buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £225000 garden flat in Walton on the Naze in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Walton on the Naze?

For most 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 :

• Completing pre-contract enquiries
• 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 solicitor 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 supply the information.

I am the registered owner of a leasehold flat in Walton on the Naze, conveyancing having been completed in 2002. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Walton on the Naze with an extended lease are worth £214,000. The ground rent is £60 levied per year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2097

With only 73 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £11,400 and £13,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Walton on the Naze