My husband and I may need to rent out our Abbey Wood 1st floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Abbey Wood conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Abbey Wood conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must obtain consent from your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I've found a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have since discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Abbey Wood. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Abbey Wood ?

The majority of houses in Abbey Wood are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Abbey Wood in which case you should be looking for a Abbey Wood conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’spermission to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will advise you fully on all the issues.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Abbey Wood which have in the region of forty five years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Abbey Wood is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. The majority of buyers and banks, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Abbey Wood conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Abbey Wood. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. It is an essential part 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).

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 350000 flat in Abbey Wood in 8 days. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Abbey Wood?

Abbey Wood conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not involves the buyer’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions the majority will be willing to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

I own a second floor flat in Abbey Wood. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for a lease extension?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Abbey Wood premises is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case affected 13 flats. The unexpired term was 76 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Abbey Wood - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Many Abbey Wood leasehold apartments will have a service charge for maintenance of the block levied by the management company. Where you buy the apartment you will have to meet this contribution, usually periodically during the year. This could differ from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common areas. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a large sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to check as occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive.