My partner and I may need to sub-let our Kensington garden flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Kensington conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Kensington conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain consent via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior permission. The 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 if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Kensington. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
• Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in Kensington.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I own a leasehold flat in Kensington. Conveyancing and Godiva Mortgages Ltd mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Kensington who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Kensington conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Completion in due on the sale of our £ 275000 maisonette in Kensington in just under a week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Kensington?

Kensington conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves the purchaser’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They are at liberty levy a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. In reality you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

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

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

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Kensington premises is 93 Oakwood Court in June 2010. the LVT determined that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £492,083, This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 37.79 years.

I invested in buying a ground floor flat in Kensington, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar properties in Kensington with a long lease are worth £230,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease ceases on 21st October 2076

With 50 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £39,900 and £46,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.