Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in St Johns. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

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

Notwithstanding that your last St Johns conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to seek 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. The consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in St Johns. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in St Johns should include some of the following:

• The physical extent of the property. This will be the apartment itself but could also incorporate a loft or basement if appropriate.

Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the building.E.G., does the lease include a right of way over a path or staircase?

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in St Johns please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in St Johns

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in St Johns from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Johns can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in St Johns state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.

If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a St Johns home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore 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.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £200000 maisonette in St Johns in nine days. The freeholder has quoted £372 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in St Johns?

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

• Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in St Johns
• 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 St Johns leasehold property is £350. For St Johns 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 supply answers.

I am the registered owner of a two-bedroom flat in St Johns. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a St Johns conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a St Johns property is 73 Walerand Road in August 2012. the result of the findings of the Tribunal led to a premium to be paid for the extended lease in respect of Flat 73 in the sum of £10,040. The premium applicable in respect of Flat 85 was £5,710. This case related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 72 years.