I own a leasehold house in Washwood Heath. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Washwood Heath who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Washwood Heath conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Washwood Heath. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to 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. However, 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 ensure 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 reputable estate agent office in Washwood Heath where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Washwood Heath conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities 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 can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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 offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Washwood Heath conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Washwood Heath conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you talk with several firms including non Washwood Heath conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• What volume of lease extensions have they conducted in Washwood Heath in the last twenty four months?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Washwood Heath who can give a testimonial?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Washwood Heath from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Washwood Heath can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
• A minority of Washwood Heath leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential 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 pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Washwood Heath home move. Where a duplicate share is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

I inherited a basement flat in Washwood Heath, conveyancing was carried out 2011. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar flats in Washwood Heath with an extended lease are worth £233,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 per annum. The lease finishes on 21st October 2094

With 68 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as 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 extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.