Helen (my wife) and I may need to sub-let our Hanwell basement flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Hanwell conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Hanwell conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must obtain consent from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years remaining on my lease in Hanwell. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Hanwell.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Hanwell. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Hanwell who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Hanwell conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Hanwell. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Hanwell conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Hanwell conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Hanwell conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Hanwell who can give a testimonial?

Following months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Hanwell. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Where there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Hanwell flat is 6 Jessamine Road in August 2013. The Tribunals valuation (as annexed to the decision) calculated the amount payable as £18,355 for the freehold reversion This case affected 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 72.39 years.

I acquired a leasehold flat in Hanwell, conveyancing having been completed in 2009. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable flats in Hanwell with an extended lease are worth £180,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease terminates on 21st October 2087

With 61 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £19,000 and £22,000 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.