I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Biggin Hill. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Biggin Hill - 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 wish to let out my leasehold flat in Biggin Hill. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your previous Biggin Hill conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Expecting to complete next month on a garden flat in Biggin Hill. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Biggin Hill should include some of the following:

• The total extent of the demise. This will be the apartment itself but might incorporate a roof space or basement if applicable.

Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the flat, or working from home

You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Biggin Hill please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Biggin Hill

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Biggin Hill with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Biggin Hill can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Biggin Hill levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Biggin Hill.

If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Biggin Hill leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Where you dont have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.

If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £150000 maisonette in Biggin Hill in nine days. The landlords agents has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Biggin Hill?

Biggin Hill conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates administration charges levied by management companies :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Biggin Hill
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Biggin Hill leasehold property is £350. For Biggin Hill 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.

I am the registered owner of a first flat in Biggin Hill. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for a lease extension?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Biggin Hill conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Biggin Hill residence is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 50.57 years.

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Lease Extensions in Biggin Hill