My husband and I may need to let out our Hackney Wick garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Hackney Wick conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Hackney Wick conveyancing lawyer is not around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must obtain permission via your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed apartment in Hackney Wick.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is clear the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Hackney Wick conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Hackney Wick conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non Hackney Wick conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• How many lease extensions have they conducted in Hackney Wick in the last twenty four months?

What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £500000 apartment in Hackney Wick on Monday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Hackney Wick?

Hackney Wick conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually results in administration charges invoiced by management companies :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Hackney Wick
• 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 Hackney Wick leasehold premises is £350. For Hackney Wick 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 answers.

Having spent months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Hackney Wick. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Hackney Wick premises is 12 Nutfield Road in July 2014. the Tribunal judged that the price to be paid by the applicants for the freehold interest should be £19,572 This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 72.02 years.

Are there frequently found problems that you encounter in leases for Hackney Wick properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Hackney Wick is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Coventry Building Society, and Aldermore all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.