I would like to sublet my leasehold flat in Chelsfield. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your previous Chelsfield 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 permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain permission from your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Chelsfield. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

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

I own a leasehold house in Chelsfield. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Chelsfield who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Chelsfield conveyancing solicitor 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 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Chelsfield. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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).

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Chelsfield where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Chelsfield conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

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 wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 purchaser.

I am the proprietor of a garden flat in Chelsfield. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium due for a lease extension?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Chelsfield conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Chelsfield 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 was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 50.57 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Chelsfield