My fiance and I may need to rent out our Little Venice 1st floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We instructed a Little Venice conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your last Little Venice conveyancing solicitor is not around you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain consent via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Little Venice.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the invoice 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 management companies 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Little Venice. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Little Venice who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Little Venice conveyancing solicitor 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 rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Little Venice conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Little Venice conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with several firms including non Little Venice conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• What volume of lease extensions have they conducted in Little Venice in the last 12 months?

What are the frequently found problems that you see in leases for Little Venice properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Little Venice. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, The Mortgage Works, and TSB all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I own a garden flat in Little Venice, conveyancing having been completed 5 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Little Venice with an extended lease are worth £232,000. The ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2078

With just 53 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £30,400 and £35,200 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Little Venice