My husband and I may need to sub-let our Elm Park basement flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Elm Park conveyancing firm in 2001 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?

A small minority of properties in Elm Park do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience dictates 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.

Looking forward to complete next month on a garden flat in Elm Park. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Elm Park should include some of the following:

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the property, or working from home
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Elm Park where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Elm Park conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Elm Park with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Elm Park can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Elm Park levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Elm Park.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Elm Park leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. Should you dont have the paperwork in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

I inherited a two-bedroom flat in Elm Park. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?

in cases 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 LVT to arrive at the price.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Elm Park residence is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 57.5 years.

What makes a Elm Park lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Elm Park. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• 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

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

I own a garden flat in Elm Park, conveyancing having been completed 9 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding properties in Elm Park with a long lease are worth £205,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2079

With only 53 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £27,600 and £31,800 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.