Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Poplar. Before I get started I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and most are in Poplar - 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 rent out my leasehold flat in Poplar. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Your lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Poplar do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

There are only Fifty years left on my lease in Poplar. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Poplar.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Poplar where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Poplar conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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 proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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.

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 150000 maisonette in Poplar next week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Poplar?

Poplar conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually requires the buyer’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions most will be content to do so. They may invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can I make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Poplar conveyancing firm to assist?

Where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Poplar premises is 12, 14 & 16 Hull Close in May 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the acquisition of the freehold to the subject premises was the sum of £18,300 This case was in relation to 3 flats. The unexpired term was 101.61 years.

I invested in buying a basement flat in Poplar, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent flats in Poplar with a long lease are worth £207,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2097

With only 71 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £12,400 and £14,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.