I wish to let out my leasehold flat in Grahame Park. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

A small minority of properties in Grahame Park do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot 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.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Grahame Park. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Grahame Park. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Grahame Park who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Grahame Park conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Grahame Park. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Grahame Park where we see a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Grahame Park conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 need not have 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.

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.

I am the leaseholder of a garden flat in Grahame Park. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Grahame Park conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Grahame Park flat is 1 & 1A Sunningfields Crescent in September 2013. The Tribunals calculation of the amount to be paid into court in respect of the value of the freehold interest is £11,997 in respect of Flat 1 and £15,781 in respect of Flat 1A for a total of £27,778. This case related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 71.5 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Grahame Park