I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Swiss Cottage. Before diving in I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and most are in Swiss Cottage - 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.

You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

I am hoping to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Swiss Cottage. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
• Does the lease prevent you from renting out the property, or working from home
• You need to be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Swiss Cottage please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Swiss Cottage

I have just appointed agents to market my garden apartment in Swiss Cottage.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you discharge the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Swiss Cottage where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Swiss Cottage conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with 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 buyer.

We expect to complete the sale of our £ 275000 apartment in Swiss Cottage on Friday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Swiss Cottage?

Swiss Cottage conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically involves fees being levied by managing agents :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Swiss Cottage
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Swiss Cottage leasehold premises is £350. For Swiss Cottage 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.

My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to purchase the freehold in Swiss Cottage. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Swiss Cottage residence is First Floor Flat 20 Fitzjohns Avenue in July 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premiums to be paid for new leases in respect of the Raised Ground Floor Flat and the First Floor Flat were to be calculated as: Raised Ground Floor: £765,175.14 First Floor: £601,617.77 This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 16.83 and 16.43.

Swiss Cottage Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before Purchasing