My wife and I may need to rent out our Holloway basement flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Holloway conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Holloway conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Holloway. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Holloway both have about 50 years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Holloway. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

We expect to complete the sale of our £425000 maisonette in Holloway on Wednesday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Holloway?

Holloway conveyancing on leasehold flats usually requires the buyer’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

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

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Holloway conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Holloway premises is 51 Lorne Road in November 2009. The price Payable as decided by the tribunal for the freehold reversion was £27,000. The valuation follows the order of the County Court made on 3 April 2008 granting a vesting order. This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 71 years.

What makes a Holloway lease problematic?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Holloway. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• 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

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Leeds Building Society, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed requirements 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, forcing the buyer to pull out.