I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Osidge. Before diving in I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and most are in Osidge - 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 wish to let out my leasehold apartment in Osidge. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

A small minority of properties in Osidge do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Osidge. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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 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).

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Osidge where we see a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Osidge conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, 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.

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

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Osidge can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Osidge levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Osidge.

Following years of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Osidge. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Osidge conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Osidge property is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case affected 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 70.31 years.