I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

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

My husband and I may need to rent out our Bexleyheath basement flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Bexleyheath conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Bexleyheath conveyancing lawyer is not available you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you must seek consent via your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without prior permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I am looking at a two apartments in Bexleyheath both have in the region of forty five years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Bexleyheath. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £ 425000 maisonette in Bexleyheath on Monday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Bexleyheath?

Bexleyheath conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually requires the purchaser’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions most will be willing to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

After years of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Bexleyheath. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

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

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Bexleyheath flat is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 76 years.

What makes a Bexleyheath lease problematic?

Leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath is not unique. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• 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

You could have 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. Nationwide Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have very detailed conveyancing instructions 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, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Bexleyheath Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying

The answer will be helpful as a) areas could result in problems in the block as the communal areas may start to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the running of the building you will need to know about it