Helen (my wife) and I may need to let out our De Beauvoir Town 1st floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a De Beauvoir Town conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous De Beauvoir Town conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to obtain consent via your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in De Beauvoir Town.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold flat in De Beauvoir Town. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in De Beauvoir Town who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a De Beauvoir Town conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in De Beauvoir Town. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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).

I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in De Beauvoir Town. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to judgment on the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a De Beauvoir Town property 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 affected 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 80.5 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Nationwide Building Society, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Aldermore all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

De Beauvoir Town Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

For many De Beauvoir Town leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be included within service charges, albeit that there some managing agents in De Beauvoir Town obliged leaseholders to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major works. Be sure to discover if the the lease includes any onerous restrictions in the lease. For example it is very common in De Beauvoir Town leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in De Beauvoir Town. If you like the flatin De Beauvoir Town but your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be presented with a difficult choice.