Jane (my partner) and I may need to sub-let our Brent Cross garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Brent Cross conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Brent Cross conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain consent from your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Planning to complete next month on a studio apartment in Brent Cross. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Brent Cross should include some of the following:

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

The total extent of the premises. This will be the property itself but might include a roof space or basement if appropriate.

Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Brent Cross please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Brent Cross

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Brent Cross. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Brent Cross from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Brent Cross can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Brent Cross leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Where you fail to have the approvals in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.

A minority of Brent Cross leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.

If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than unresolved.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a Brent Cross conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £325000 flat in Brent Cross next week. The freeholder has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Brent Cross?

For most leasehold sales in Brent Cross conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Brent Cross
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Brent Cross leasehold premises is £350. For Brent Cross conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to supply answers.

I am the leaseholder of a basement flat in Brent Cross. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?

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 determine the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Brent Cross property is First Floor Flat 61 Wilberforce Road in March 2014. The premium payable was £10,130 and the case was remitted back to the Willesden County Court to effect the Vesting Order (Claim No 3W103100). This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 71 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Brent Cross