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

The lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Cubitt Town do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I have recently realised that I have 62 years unexpired on my flat in Cubitt Town. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. On the whole a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Cubitt Town.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Cubitt Town where we see a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Cubitt Town conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser 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.

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 buyer.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Cubitt Town from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cubitt Town can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Cubitt Town charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cubitt Town.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Cubitt Town state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. If you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.

If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Cubitt Town conveyancing transaction. Where a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

We expect to complete the sale of our £125000 apartment in Cubitt Town next Monday . The managing agents has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Cubitt Town?

Cubitt Town conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally necessitates administration charges levied by managing agents :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Cubitt Town
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Cubitt Town leasehold property is £350. For Cubitt Town conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply answers.

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

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Cubitt Town premises 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 number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 101.61 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Cubitt Town