I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Belgravia both have in the region of 50 years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Belgravia. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. 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 because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Belgravia where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Belgravia conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities 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 commence 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 before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 purchaser.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Belgravia conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Belgravia conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Belgravia conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Belgravia who can give a testimonial?

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 150000 garden flat in Belgravia in just under a week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Belgravia?

Belgravia conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually necessitates the purchaser’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

I am the leaseholder of a ground floor flat in Belgravia. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium due for the purchase of the freehold?

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

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Belgravia premises is Flat 3 47 Cadogan Square in December 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable to the landord by the leaseholder for the lease extension was £732,935 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 13.33 years.

What makes a Belgravia lease unacceptable for security purposes?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Belgravia. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Chelsea Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Belgravia - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

The majority of Belgravia leasehold apartments will have a service charge for the upkeep of the block levied by the landlord. If you buy the apartment you will have to pay this contribution, normally in instalments throughout the year. This can be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. In all probability there will be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a large sum, say about £50-£100 but you should to check as on occasion it can be surprisingly expensive.