Jane (my partner) and I may need to let out our Covent Garden ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Covent Garden conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

The lease governs the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Covent Garden do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed apartment in Covent Garden.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a half-yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Covent Garden. 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. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Covent Garden who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Covent Garden conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website 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 work for a reputable estate agency in Covent Garden where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Covent Garden conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

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. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having 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 sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Covent Garden with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Covent Garden can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Covent Garden state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Should you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance.

I am the registered owner of a first flat in Covent Garden. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for a lease extension?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Covent Garden flat is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 73.26 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Covent Garden