I am intending to rent out my leasehold apartment in Hendon. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Even though your last Hendon conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to seek permission via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Expecting to exchange soon on a garden flat in Hendon. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Hendon should include some of the following:

• Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

Are pets allowed in the flat?

You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

Repair and maintenance of the flat

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Hendon please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Hendon

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Hendon. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. It is an essential part 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Hendon from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hendon can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Hendon charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hendon.

If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Hendon state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Should you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Hendon conveyancing deal. If a new share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £200000 flat in Hendon in 5 days. The landlords agents has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Hendon?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Hendon conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Hendon
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Hendon leasehold property is £350. For Hendon 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.

We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Hendon. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to determine the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Hendon flat is First Floor Flat 61 Wilberforce Road in March 2014. The premium payable was £10,130 and the case was remitted back to the Willesden County Court to effect the Vesting Order (Claim No 3W103100). This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 71 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Hendon