I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Strawberry Hill. Before I get started I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Strawberry Hill - 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.

Jane (my partner) and I may need to rent out our Strawberry Hill ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Strawberry Hill conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

The lease governs the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Strawberry Hill do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I have recently realised that I have 62 years unexpired on my lease in Strawberry Hill. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Strawberry Hill.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Strawberry Hill. Conveyancing and TSB mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Strawberry Hill who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Strawberry Hill conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £ 250000 apartment in Strawberry Hill on Thursday in a week. The landlords agents 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 exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Strawberry Hill?

Strawberry Hill conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times results in fees being raised by managing agents :

• Completing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Strawberry Hill
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Strawberry Hill leasehold property is £350. For Strawberry Hill 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 supply answers.

I inherited a garden flat in Strawberry Hill. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for a lease extension?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Strawberry Hill conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Strawberry Hill residence is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 60.45 years.

I invested in buying a leasehold flat in Strawberry Hill, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2006. 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? Corresponding properties in Strawberry Hill with over 90 years remaining are worth £223,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2092

With just 66 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £13,300 and £15,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.