I would like to let out my leasehold apartment in Bedford Park. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Notwithstanding that your last Bedford Park conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior permission. Such consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Bedford Park. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Bedford Park should include some of the following:

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Are pets allowed in the flat?
• Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the flat, or working from home
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Bedford Park.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you 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 managing agents 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 employed by a busy estate agency in Bedford Park where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Bedford Park conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, 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 buyer.

I am the leaseholder of a ground floor flat in Bedford Park. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Bedford Park residence is 169 Southfield Road in September 2013. the tribunal decided that the premium to be paid in respect of the collective enfranchisement should be £51,203 This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 64.64 years.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Bedford Park what are the most frequent lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Bedford Park is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, The Mortgage Works, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Bedford Park - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

What prohibitions are contained in the Bedford Park Lease? The best form of lease structure is if the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this arrangement the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is frequently employed where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.