My partner and I may need to rent out our De Beauvoir Town garden flat temporarily due to a new job. We instructed a De Beauvoir Town conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in De Beauvoir Town do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

There are only 68 years unexpired on my flat in De Beauvoir Town. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission 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 prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering De Beauvoir Town.

Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold flat in De Beauvoir Town. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in De Beauvoir Town who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a De Beauvoir Town conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in De Beauvoir Town levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town.
• A minority of De Beauvoir Town leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to pay 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a De Beauvoir Town home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 475000 flat in De Beauvoir Town next Tuesday . The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in De Beauvoir Town?

De Beauvoir Town conveyancing on leasehold flats normally involves the buyer’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They may invoice a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has no option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Following months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in De Beauvoir Town. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

if there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a De Beauvoir Town residence is 5C Stoke Newington Road in April 2010. the Tribunal therefore concludes that the premium to be paid for the extended lease is £700.00 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 80.5 years.

De Beauvoir Town Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

What is the service charge and ground rent on the property? Is anyone aware of any major works on the horizon that could increase the maintenance charges?