Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Camden Town. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Camden Town - 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.

My partner and I may need to let out our Camden Town ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Camden Town conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Camden Town do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to 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 permission.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Camden Town. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Setting out your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease permit a right of way over a path or hallways?
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Camden Town where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Camden Town conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 purchaser.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Camden Town from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Camden Town can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Camden Town levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Camden Town.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Camden Town leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you fail to have the consents in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in advance.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Having spent years of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Camden Town. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Camden Town conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Camden Town flat is Flat 120, Clare Court Judd Street in August 2013. the Tribunal held that the premium to be paid for the extension of the lease should be £64,650 This case affected 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 62.79 years.

I own a 2 bed flat in Camden Town, conveyancing having been completed 4 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding properties in Camden Town with a long lease are worth £223,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2093

You have 67 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £12,400 and £14,200 plus legals.

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 detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.