Jane (my partner) and I may need to let out our Ealing 1st floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Ealing conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Ealing do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

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

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Ealing.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Ealing where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Ealing conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Ealing conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Ealing conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Ealing conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Ealing who can give a testimonial?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £ 500000 apartment in Ealing on Wednesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Ealing?

Ealing conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times necessitates administration charges levied by freeholders :

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Ealing
• 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 Ealing leasehold premises is £350. For Ealing 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.

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

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Ealing conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Ealing property is Flat 4 38 The Mall in April 2014. the Tribunal held that the premium payable for the lease extension to be £25,451 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 68.7 years.

I purchased a studio flat in Ealing, conveyancing formalities finalised 2012. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Ealing with a long lease are worth £232,000. The ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2081

You have 55 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £26,600 and £30,800 as well as costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.