Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in South Kensington. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and most are in South Kensington - 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 am intending to let out my leasehold apartment in South Kensington. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

The lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in South Kensington do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the sublease.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in South Kensington. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. 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 be sure 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 provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in South Kensington from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in South Kensington can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in South Kensington levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in South Kensington.
• A minority of South Kensington leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 500000 maisonette in South Kensington on Thursday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in South Kensington?

For the majority of leasehold sales in South Kensington conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in South Kensington
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for South Kensington leasehold premises is £350. For South Kensington 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 answers.

I inherited a a ground floor purpose built flat in South Kensington. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium due for a lease extension?

You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a South Kensington conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a South Kensington premises is Flat 16 21/22 Stanhope Gardens in November 2010. the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal concluded that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, was £106,975 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 51.93 years.

South Kensington Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying

How is the lease structured? It would be sensible to find out if the the lease includes any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. By way of example it is very common in South Kensington leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in South Kensington. If you like the flatin South Kensington but your dog is not allowed to live with you then you will be faced hard choice.