Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Belmont ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Belmont conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Your lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Belmont do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Looking forward to complete next month on a leasehold property in Belmont. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Belmont both have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Belmont conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Belmont conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with several firms including non Belmont conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Completion in due on our sale of a £125000 maisonette in Belmont in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Belmont?

Belmont conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually necessitates the purchaser’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions most will be content to assist. They are entitled levy a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

I inherited a ground-floor 1950’s flat in Belmont. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?

Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Belmont premises is 33 The Maisonettes Alberta Avenue in June 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of a new lease be the sum of £20,680 (Twenty Thousand six hundred and eighty pounds). This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 60.43 years.