My wife and I may need to sub-let our Bloomsbury basement flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Bloomsbury conveyancing firm in 2003 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?

Even though your last Bloomsbury conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you must obtain consent via your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining permission. Such consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Bloomsbury. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. For most situations a specialist may be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Bloomsbury.

I am hoping to complete next month on a studio apartment in Bloomsbury. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have since found out that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Bloomsbury. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Bloomsbury ?

The majority of houses in Bloomsbury are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Bloomsbury so you should seriously consider looking for a Bloomsbury conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the freeholder’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

I am the registered owner of a basement flat in Bloomsbury. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for a lease extension?

Where there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Bloomsbury residence is Flat 89 Trinity Court Grays Inn Road in February 2013. the Tribunal found that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 should be £36,229. This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 66.8 years.

What makes a Bloomsbury lease unacceptable for security purposes?

Leasehold conveyancing in Bloomsbury is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements 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 can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Virgin Money, and TSB 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 defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.