I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Queen's Park. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and most are in Queen's Park - 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 Queen's Park garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Queen's Park conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Queen's Park conveyancing lawyer is not available you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

There are only Seventy years remaining on my flat in Queen's Park. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

If 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. For most situations a specialist would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Queen's Park.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have since found out that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Queen's Park. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Queen's Park are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Queen's Park so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Queen's Park conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in advising on 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 with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the freeholder’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your lawyer should advise you fully on all the issues.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Queen's Park where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Queen's Park conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as 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 purchaser.

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

Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the price payable.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Queen's Park residence is 4 & 4A Charteris Road in June 2009. the Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the enfranchisement of 4/4a Charteris Road to be £15,510 for at 4and £15,694 for at 4a This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 70.02 years.

I acquired a 2 bed flat in Queen's Park, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar properties in Queen's Park with a long lease are worth £265,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease expires on 21st October 2106

With 80 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £12,400 and £14,200 plus costs.

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 in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.