I want to sublet my leasehold apartment in Beckenham. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your previous Beckenham conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain consent from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I have just started marketing my 2 bed flat in Beckenham.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay 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 until 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.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Beckenham which have approximately 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Beckenham where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Beckenham conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Beckenham. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Beckenham premises is 26 Manor Road in July 2010. the Tribunal decided that price to be paid for the freehold was £12,420 This case affected 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 76.75 and 88.83.

What makes a Beckenham lease problematic?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Beckenham. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• 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. Accord Mortgages Ltd, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions 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 grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Beckenham