My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Oakleigh Park. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Oakleigh Park who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Oakleigh Park conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Oakleigh Park both have approximately forty five years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Oakleigh Park. Do I have any liability for 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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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).

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Oakleigh Park conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Oakleigh Park conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Oakleigh Park conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

We expect to complete our sale of a £150000 apartment in Oakleigh Park next week. The managing agents has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Oakleigh Park?

Oakleigh Park conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not necessitates the buyer’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries most will be content to assist. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable charge for responding to questions 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 transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Oakleigh Park. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Oakleigh Park conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Oakleigh Park property is Flat 2 2 Netherfield Road in April 2010. The Tribunale held that premium payable for a 90 year extension to the existing Lease should be £7,705. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 76 years.