Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Before diving in I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Hampstead Garden Suburb - 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 fiance and I may need to let out our Hampstead Garden Suburb garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain consent from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without prior permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Expecting to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Hampstead Garden Suburb should include some of the following:

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, 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 ensure 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).

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How many lease extensions has the firm completed in Hampstead Garden Suburb in the last 12 months?

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can one make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Hampstead Garden Suburb conveyancing firm to assist?

if there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement 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.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Hampstead Garden Suburb residence is FFF, 37 and Garage 1, Queensborough Court North Circular Road in September 2012. The Tribunal determined that the premium for the lease extension should be £67,037 This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 23.66 years.