I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in West Smithfield. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in West Smithfield - 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in West Smithfield. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. A critical element 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 am employed by a busy estate agency in West Smithfield where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local West Smithfield conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the seller 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 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 sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 the disposal of our £ 325000 garden flat in West Smithfield next Friday . The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in West Smithfield?

West Smithfield conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves the purchaser’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be willing to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is above £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

After years of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in West Smithfield. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a West Smithfield conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a West Smithfield premises is Flat 89 Trinity Court Grays Inn Road in February 2013. the Tribunal found that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 should be £36,229. This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 66.8 years.

What makes a West Smithfield lease problematic?

Leasehold conveyancing in West Smithfield is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• 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

You will encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Bank of Scotland, and Barclays Direct 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 provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I am the registered owner of a basement flat in West Smithfield, conveyancing was carried out 5 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in West Smithfield with a long lease are worth £256,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2083

With only 57 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £24,700 and £28,600 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.