I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Gospel Oak. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Gospel Oak - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Frank (my husband) and I may need to sub-let our Gospel Oak garden flat temporarily due to a new job. We instructed a Gospel Oak conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Your lease governs relations between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Gospel Oak do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I own a leasehold flat in Gospel Oak. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Gospel Oak who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Gospel Oak 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 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Gospel Oak conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Gospel Oak conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Gospel Oak conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?

How many lease extensions has the firm conducted in Gospel Oak in the last twenty four months?

We expect to complete the sale of our £475000 flat in Gospel Oak in 8 days. The managing agents has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Gospel Oak?

Gospel Oak conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times results in fees being levied by freeholders :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Gospel Oak
• 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 conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Gospel Oak leasehold premises is £350. For Gospel Oak 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 provide answers.

I own a ground-floor 1960’s flat in Gospel Oak. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the price.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Gospel Oak residence is Flat 2 27 Mackeson Road in December 2012. The Tribunal assessed the value of the lease extension premium at £35,435 and rounded the figure to £35,500 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 64.77 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Gospel Oak