Harry (my fiance) and I may need to let out our Eel Pie Island ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Eel Pie Island conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Eel Pie Island do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold 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 permission.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Eel Pie Island. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage went though with no issue. 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 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Eel Pie Island who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Eel Pie Island conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Eel Pie Island where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Eel Pie Island conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having 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 purchaser.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Eel Pie Island from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Eel Pie Island can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Eel Pie Island charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Eel Pie Island.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Eel Pie Island leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the consents in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.

Some Eel Pie Island 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 able to meet 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £125000 garden flat in Eel Pie Island on Thursday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Eel Pie Island?

Eel Pie Island conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes ordinarily results in administration charges levied by freeholders :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Eel Pie Island
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Eel Pie Island leasehold property is £350. For Eel Pie Island 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 obliged to provide the information.

Having spent years of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Eel Pie Island. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the price.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Eel Pie Island premises is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 60.45 years.