I am intending to sublet my leasehold apartment in Hither Green. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your last Hither Green conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain permission via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without prior permission. Such consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Hither Green.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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 until 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.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Hither Green both have in the region of 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Hither Green. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Hither Green with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Hither Green can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Hither Green state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. If you fail to have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.
• Some Hither Green leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to 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 yearly 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £ 500000 garden flat in Hither Green in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Hither Green?

For most leasehold sales in Hither Green conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Hither Green
• 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 solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Hither Green leasehold premises is £350. For Hither Green 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 supply answers.

I am the leaseholder of a ground-floor 1960’s flat in Hither Green. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Hither Green conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Hither Green premises is 18 Handen Road in April 2013. On 26 October 2012 District Judge Zimmels sitting at the Lambeth County Court made a Vesting Order that the Applicants be granted the right to acquire the freehold upon such terms and at such price determined by the LVT. The Tribunal arrived a figure of £39,535 as a valuation for the enfranchisement. This case related to 3 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 69.05 years.

Hither Green Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Does the lease have onerous restrictions? The majority of Hither Green leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the building levied on behalf of the landlord. Should you purchase the property you will have to meet this amount, usually quarterly throughout the year. This could vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, ordinarily this is not a large sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to check as occasionally it can be prohibitively expensive. You should want to discover as much as you can about the company managing the block as they will either make your life much simpler or problematic. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to practical issues like the cleanliness of the communal areas. Enquire of prospective neighbours if they are happy with their management. On a final note, be sure you know the dates that the service fees are due to the appropriate party and specifically how they are spending the funds.