Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in St Helier. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in St Helier - 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.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years remaining on my flat in St Helier. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application 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 Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing St Helier.

I have just started marketing my garden flat in St Helier.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a St Helier conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a St Helier conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non St Helier conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?

How many lease extensions have they carried out in St Helier in the last 12 months?

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £350000 garden flat in St Helier next Friday . The landlords agents has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in St Helier?

St Helier conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times necessitates administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in St Helier
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 St Helier leasehold property is £350. For St Helier 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 the information.

I inherited a two-bedroom flat in St Helier. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium due for a lease extension?

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a St Helier residence is Buchanan Court 39 Vernon Road in April 2010. the Tribunal assessed that the premium payable for the freehold of the block should be £44,000. This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 66.67 years.