I wish to rent out my leasehold flat in Cubitt Town. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

The lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Cubitt Town do not prevent subletting altogether – 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 supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I only have Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Cubitt Town. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. In some cases a specialist may be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Cubitt Town.

I am attracted to a two flats in Cubitt Town which have approximately forty five years left on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Cubitt Town. 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 be sure 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).

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £ 375000 flat in Cubitt Town on Monday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Cubitt Town?

Cubitt Town conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally necessitates the purchaser’s conveyancer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They are entitled invoice a reasonable charge 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 transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

After months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Cubitt Town. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the amount due.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Cubitt Town flat is 12, 14 & 16 Hull Close in May 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the acquisition of the freehold to the subject premises was the sum of £18,300 This case related to 3 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 101.61 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Cubitt Town - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

The majority of Cubitt Town leasehold properties will have a service bill for the upkeep of the building levied on behalf of the freeholder. If you acquire the property you will have to meet this liability, usually periodically accross the year. This can vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay annual, ordinarily this is not a significant amount, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to enquire as occasionally it could be surprisingly expensive. How long is the Lease?