I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Custom House. Before I get started I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Custom House - 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.

My partner and I may need to rent out our Custom House garden flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a Custom House conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your last Custom House conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must obtain consent via your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

There are only 68 years unexpired on my lease in Custom House. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Custom House.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Custom House from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Custom House can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Custom House levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information 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 usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Custom House.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Custom House leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. If you dont have the paperwork to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.
• Some Custom House leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

After months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Custom House. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Custom House residence is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 69.77 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Custom House what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Custom House. All leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain sections are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Barnsley Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I am the registered owner of a split level flat in Custom House, conveyancing having been completed in 2002. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Custom House with an extended lease are worth £187,000. The ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease finishes on 21st October 2077

You have 51 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £37,100 and £42,800 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.