Frank (my husband) and I may need to sub-let our Kensington garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Kensington conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Kensington do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed flat in Kensington.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear 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 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Kensington with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kensington can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Kensington charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kensington.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Kensington leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you dont have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer in the first instance.
• Some Kensington leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is under 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 325000 garden flat in Kensington on Thursday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Kensington?

Kensington conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often involves the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

After years of negotiations 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?

You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Kensington conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Kensington residence 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 was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 37.79 years.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Kensington what are the most frequent lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Kensington is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• 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 have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Britannia all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I invested in buying a 1st floor flat in Kensington, conveyancing was carried out 2009. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Kensington with a long lease are worth £238,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2106

You have 80 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £10,500 and £12,000 plus legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive 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 considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.