I want to rent out my leasehold flat in Church End. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Notwithstanding that your previous Church End conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must seek permission via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior 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.

There are only 68 years unexpired on my flat in Church End. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Church End.

I own a leasehold house in Church End. Conveyancing and Britannia mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Church End who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Church End conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a long established estate agency in Church End where we see a few flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Church End conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that 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. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 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 disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 500000 apartment in Church End next week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Church End?

Church End conveyancing on leasehold flats usually requires the purchaser’s solicitor sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions most will be content to do so. They may levy a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

I have had difficulty in trying to purchase the freehold in Church End. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Church End residence is Flat 1 30 Ennismore Avenue in September 2010. the Tribunal adopted and arrived at a premium for the lease extension of £29, 900 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 68.34 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Church End - Sample of Queries Prior to buying