My husband and I may need to let out our Fitzrovia 1st floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Fitzrovia conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Fitzrovia conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to seek consent via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without first obtaining permission. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Fitzrovia. Conveyancing and Birmingham Midshires mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Fitzrovia who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Fitzrovia conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Fitzrovia both have in the region of forty five years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Fitzrovia is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Fitzrovia conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Fitzrovia with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Fitzrovia can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Fitzrovia leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the approvals in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.

Some Fitzrovia leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly 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 buyers or their lawyers.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Fitzrovia conveyancing transaction. Where a reissued share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible 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 disposal of our £450000 garden flat in Fitzrovia in six days. The freeholder has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Fitzrovia?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Fitzrovia conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Fitzrovia
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Fitzrovia leasehold property is £350. For Fitzrovia 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.

I own a ground floor flat in Fitzrovia. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for a lease extension?

Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to calculate the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Fitzrovia premises is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 73.26 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Fitzrovia