Harry (my fiance) and I may need to let out our Coney Hall 1st floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Coney Hall conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Coney Hall do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot 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 consent.

There are only 62 years remaining on my flat in Coney Hall. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Coney Hall.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Coney Hall. Conveyancing and Halifax mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Coney Hall who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Coney Hall conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured 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 Coney Hall. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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).

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Coney Hall from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Coney Hall can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Coney Hall charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Coney Hall.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Coney Hall leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Where you fail to have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
• 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 concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is unresolved. 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 purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider 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 for a lease extension without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Coney Hall conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

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

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Coney Hall flat 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 affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 50.57 years.

I own a garden flat in Coney Hall, conveyancing formalities finalised 2009. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Coney Hall with a long lease are worth £194,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2092

With 66 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £12,400 and £14,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.