I would like to sublet my leasehold apartment in Bromley Common. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Notwithstanding that your previous Bromley Common conveyancing lawyer is not around you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain consent from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Bromley Common. Conveyancing lawyers have said 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 Bromley Common should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Bromley Common both have approximately forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Bromley Common is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Bromley Common conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Bromley Common where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Bromley Common conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 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 sale.

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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £475000 garden flat in Bromley Common in 8 days. The management company has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Bromley Common?

Bromley Common conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves the purchaser’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be willing to assist. They are entitled levy a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

After months of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Bromley Common. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

in cases 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 judgment on the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Bromley Common premises is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 50.57 years.