I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in St Luke's - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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 would like to let out my leasehold apartment in St Luke's. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

The lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in St Luke's do not contain subletting altogether – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in St Luke's where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local St Luke's conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

We expect to complete our sale of a £ 300000 garden flat in St Luke's next Monday . The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in St Luke's?

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

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in St Luke's
• 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 Luke's leasehold property is £350. For St Luke's 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 obliged to provide the information.

After months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in St Luke's. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a St Luke's conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a St Luke's property is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case related to 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 72.39 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's what are the most common lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Santander, Leeds Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in St Luke's - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

Please inform me if there are any major works in the planning that will add a premium to the service costs? Who is in charge of the block? Is there a share of the freehold?