Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in White City. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and most are in White City - 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 let out our White City 1st floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a White City conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

The lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in White City do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I own a leasehold house in White City. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in White City who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a White City conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in White City from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in White City can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? White City leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. Should you dont have the consents to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
• A minority of White City leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a White City home move. If a new share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 375000 maisonette in White City next week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in White City?

For most leasehold sales in White City conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in White City
• 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 White City leasehold property is £350. For White City 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.

I have had difficulty in negotiating a lease extension in White City. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a White City premises is 23 & 23A Collingbourne Road in June 2013. Tribunal was dealing with the assessment of the value of the freehold reversion and determination of the terms of the acquisition pursuant to an Order of District Judge Lightman dated 25 February 2013 vesting the freehold interest in the property in the applicant. The tribunal assessed the price of the freehold (to which any arrears or other sums due to the missing landlord under the leases should be added) at £81,638. This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 64.5 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in White City - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the tenants enjoy control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is frequently retained where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. Is anyone aware of any major works in the planning that could add a premium to the maintenance costs?