I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Wapping. Before diving in I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Wapping - 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 have recently realised that I have Seventy years remaining on my lease in Wapping. I now wish to extend my lease 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 extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. On the whole a specialist would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Wapping.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Wapping. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Wapping who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Wapping conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 450000 garden flat in Wapping on Tuesday in a week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Wapping?

Wapping conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes nine out of ten times necessitates administration charges raised by managing agents :

• Addressing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Wapping
• 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 Wapping leasehold property is £350. For Wapping 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 proprietor of a ground-floor 1960’s flat in Wapping. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for a lease extension?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Wapping premises is 1-41 Royal Tower Lodge 40 Cartwright Street in April 2013. the tribunal adding the agreed value of capitalised ground rents and the reversion the price to be paid for the freehold was £1,187,000 This case related to 41 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 107 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Wapping what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Wapping. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will 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. Lloyds TSB Bank, The Mortgage Works, and Alliance & Leicester all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

I invested in buying a ground floor flat in Wapping, conveyancing formalities finalised 8 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Wapping with over 90 years remaining are worth £220,000. The ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2082

With 56 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £27,600 and £31,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.