Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Blackwall. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Blackwall - 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.

I want to sublet my leasehold flat in Blackwall. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Your lease governs the relationship between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Blackwall do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

Planning to complete next month on a basement flat in Blackwall. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark

Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change

Repair and maintenance of the flat

The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.

Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Blackwall please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Blackwall

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Blackwall where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Blackwall conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that 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 wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, 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 buyer.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £125000 garden flat in Blackwall on Friday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £372 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Blackwall?

Blackwall conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally involves fees being invoiced by landlords agents :

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Blackwall
• 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 Blackwall leasehold property is £350. For Blackwall 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 answers.

Having spent months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Blackwall. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Blackwall residence is 12, 14 & 16 Hull Close in May 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the acquisition of the freehold to the subject premises was the sum of £18,300 This case related to 3 flats. The unexpired term was 101.61 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Blackwall