I am intending to rent out my leasehold apartment in Belvedere. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your last Belvedere conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to obtain permission from your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Back In 2004, I bought a leasehold house in Belvedere. Conveyancing and National Westminster Bank mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Belvedere who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Belvedere conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Belvedere which have in the region of 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Belvedere. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Belvedere where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Belvedere conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have 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 prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

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

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Belvedere conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Belvedere conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• What volume of lease extensions has the firm carried out in Belvedere in the last twenty four months?

Notwithstanding our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Belvedere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the price.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Belvedere 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 was in relation to 13 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 76 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Belvedere