Jane (my partner) and I may need to rent out our Cheam ground floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Cheam conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Cheam do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Cheam. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• 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
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

Back In 2004, I bought a leasehold house in Cheam. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Cheam who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Cheam conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Cheam both have about 50 years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the value of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Cheam from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Cheam can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Cheam levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cheam.
• A minority of Cheam leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly 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 buyers or their lawyers.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can I apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Cheam conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Cheam flat 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 affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 60.43 years.

Cheam Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before buying

The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the lessees have control and although a managing agent is usually employed if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. Plenty Cheam leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the building invoiced on behalf of the landlord. Should you buy the property you will have to meet this contribution, normally quarterly accross the year. This can differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent to be met yearly, this is usually not a exorbitant figure, say around £25-£75 but you need to check as occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds.