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

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Keston - 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.

Frank (my husband) and I may need to sub-let our Keston garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Keston conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Keston conveyancing lawyer is not around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must obtain permission from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without prior permission. Such consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Keston. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Keston who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Keston conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £ 500000 flat in Keston next Wednesday . The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Keston?

Keston conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves the purchaser’s lawyer submitting 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 may invoice a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

After months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Keston. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to calculate the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Keston premises is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 50.57 years.

What makes a Keston lease problematic?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Keston. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , The Royal Bank of Scotland, and TSB all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

I own a ground floor flat in Keston, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding flats in Keston with a long lease are worth £207,000. The ground rent is £60 per annum. The lease ends on 21st October 2102

With only 76 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.