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

Your lease governs the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Honor Oak do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Honor Oak. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Honor Oak should include some of the following:

• Defining your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the building.For instance, does the lease grant a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
• Does the lease prevent you from renting out the property, or working from home
• You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

I am looking at a two flats in Honor Oak which have in the region of fifty years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Honor Oak is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the property. For most buyers and banks, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property 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 a residence 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 Honor Oak 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 the agreed 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 Honor Oak from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Honor Oak can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Honor Oak levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Honor Oak.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Honor Oak state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. If you fail to have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Honor Oak conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 175000 garden flat in Honor Oak on Wednesday in a week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Honor Oak?

Honor Oak conveyancing on leasehold flats normally requires the buyer’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

Having spent years of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Honor Oak. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Honor Oak property is Flat 1 40-42 Ewelme Road in August 2012. the Tribunal assessed the premium for the lease extension in the sum of £11,800 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 61.81 years.

Honor Oak Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Best to be warned whether window replacement or some other major work is due in the foreseeable future that will be shared amongst the tenants and may well materially impact the level of the service costs or necessitate a one time payment.