Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Kenley. Before diving in I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Kenley - 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.

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to sub-let our Kenley basement flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Kenley conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Kenley conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I've found a house that appears to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have just been informed that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Kenley. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Kenley ?

The majority of houses in Kenley are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Kenley so you should seriously consider looking for a Kenley conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the landlord’spermission to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should report to you on the legal implications.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Kenley with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kenley can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Kenley levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kenley.
• Some Kenley leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual 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.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a Kenley conveyancing transaction. Where a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 175000 apartment in Kenley in 8 days. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Kenley?

Kenley conveyancing on leasehold flats ordinarily necessitates fees being levied by managing agents :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Kenley
• 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 Kenley leasehold premises is £350. For Kenley 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 provide the information.

I inherited a second floor flat in Kenley. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for a lease extension?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Kenley property is The Woodlands 95 Purley Park Road in April 2009. The Tribunals own valuation produced the fi
gure of £37,912. This case related to 6 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 78.32 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Kenley - Sample of Questions you should ask before buying

Where a Kenley lease has no more than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the flat. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the property for a couple of years in order to be legally able to exercise a lease extension. Please inform me if there are any major works anticipated that will add a premium to the maintenance charges?