I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in East London. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in East London - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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 am looking at a two flats in East London which have approximately 50 years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in East London. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I work for a busy estate agent office in East London where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local East London conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 wait 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.

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 buyer.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in East London from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in East London can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in East London charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in East London.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in East London state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a East London conveyancing transaction. Where a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 450000 maisonette in East London next Monday . The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in East London?

East London conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes nine out of ten times results in administration charges raised by landlords agents :

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in East London
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 East London leasehold premises is £350. For East London 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 required to supply the information.

We have reached the end of our tether in seeking a lease extension in East London. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a East London conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a East London premises is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 73.26 years.

East London Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing