I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Teddington. Before diving in I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Teddington - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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 Teddington 1st floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Teddington conveyancing firm 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?

A small minority of properties in Teddington 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 suggests 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Teddington. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Teddington who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Teddington conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Teddington. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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 ensure 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).

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 150000 flat in Teddington in 8 days. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Teddington?

Teddington conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not involves the buyer’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They may charge a reasonable administration fee for answering questions 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 situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I am the registered owner of a basement flat in Teddington. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Teddington conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Teddington premises is Flat D 15 Claremont Gardens in September 2013. TheTribunal determined in accordance with section48 and Schedule13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease should be fourteen thousand one hundred and eighty seven pounds (£14,187.00) This case related to 1 flat.

I own a 2 bed flat in Teddington, conveyancing was carried out in 2002. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Teddington with a long lease are worth £187,000. The ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease expires on 21st October 2083

With only 57 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £23,800 and £27,400 plus legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.