I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Chiswick. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Chiswick - 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 only have Seventy years remaining on my lease in Chiswick. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Chiswick.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Chiswick. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Chiswick conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Chiswick conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you talk with several firms including non Chiswick conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How many lease extensions have they completed in Chiswick in the last 12 months?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Chiswick who can give a testimonial?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £ 150000 maisonette in Chiswick in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Chiswick?

For most leasehold sales in Chiswick conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Chiswick
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Chiswick leasehold premises is £350. For Chiswick 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 obliged to supply the information.

I own a ground-floor 1960’s flat in Chiswick. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for a lease extension?

Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Chiswick conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Chiswick property is Flat 1 30 Ennismore Avenue in September 2010. the Tribunal adopted and arrived at a premium for the lease extension of £29, 900 This case affected 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 68.34 years.

I invested in buying a basement flat in Chiswick, conveyancing formalities finalised 5 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Chiswick with over 90 years remaining are worth £191,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2103

With just 77 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.