I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Dartmouth. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Dartmouth - 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.

I own a leasehold flat in Dartmouth. Conveyancing and TSB mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Dartmouth who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Dartmouth conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured 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 employed by a long established estate agency in Dartmouth where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Dartmouth conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is 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 needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £ 275000 garden flat in Dartmouth next week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Dartmouth?

Dartmouth conveyancing on leasehold flats typically involves fees being invoiced by landlords agents :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Dartmouth
• 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 Dartmouth leasehold property is £350. For Dartmouth 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 obliged to supply answers.

What are the common problems that you encounter in leases for Dartmouth properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Dartmouth. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain sections are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Santander, The Mortgage Works, and Barclays Direct all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

I purchased a 1st floor flat in Dartmouth, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable flats in Dartmouth with a long lease are worth £216,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2099

With just 73 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more comprehensive 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 clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.