Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Vauxhall. Before I get started I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Vauxhall - 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.

My partner and I may need to sub-let our Vauxhall ground floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Vauxhall conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Vauxhall conveyancing lawyer is not available you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain consent from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed apartment in Vauxhall.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay the invoice 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 unless 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am attracted to a couple of apartments in Vauxhall both have about forty five years left on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Vauxhall. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

We expect to complete the sale of our £450000 flat in Vauxhall next week. The freeholder has quoted £336 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Vauxhall?

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

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Vauxhall
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Vauxhall leasehold property is £350. For Vauxhall 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 answers.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can I make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Vauxhall conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

if there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Vauxhall property is Flats 12A & 19, Evelyn Mansions Carlisle Place in June 2009. The Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the new lease of Flat 12A is £168,824, For the other flat the price was set at £169,110 This case related to 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 56 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Vauxhall