Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in West Kensington. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in West Kensington - 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 sub-let our West Kensington basement flat for a while due to a new job. We used a West Kensington conveyancing practice in 2004 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?

Some leases for properties in West Kensington do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Expecting to complete next month on a garden flat in West Kensington. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report 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 West Kensington should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
• The physical extent of the premises. This will be the property itself but could also include a loft or basement if appropriate.
• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in West Kensington. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £ 450000 garden flat in West Kensington next week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in West Kensington?

West Kensington conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not requires the purchaser’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it exceeds £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in West Kensington. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a West Kensington conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a West Kensington premises is 93 Oakwood Court in June 2010. the LVT determined that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £492,083, This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 37.79 years.

West Kensington Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before buying

Most West Kensington leasehold properties will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the landlord. Should you purchase the property you will have to meet this amount, usually in instalments throughout the year. This may be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a significant amount, say about £25-£75 but you should to enquire it because on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds.