I would like to let out my leasehold apartment in Harrow Weald. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Even though your last Harrow Weald conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I only have Fifty years remaining on my lease in Harrow Weald. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Harrow Weald.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Harrow Weald both have about fifty years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Harrow Weald is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the property. The majority of purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive 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 Harrow Weald conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new 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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Harrow Weald from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Harrow Weald can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Harrow Weald levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Harrow Weald.
• Some Harrow Weald leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Harrow Weald home move. Where a duplicate share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

I am the leaseholder of a two-bedroom flat in Harrow Weald. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for a lease extension?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Harrow Weald conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Harrow Weald property is flat 93b Welldon Crescent in May 2009. The Tribunals valuation for a 90-year lease extension of this fat was £13,171 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 75.25 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Harrow Weald what are the most frequent lease problems?

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

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Virgin Money, and Alliance & Leicester all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I acquired a split level flat in Harrow Weald, conveyancing was carried out in 1999. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Harrow Weald with an extended lease are worth £225,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2095

You have 69 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £14,300 and £16,400 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.