Helen (my wife) and I may need to let out our Kew garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Kew conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Kew do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to see 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.

I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years left on my lease in Kew. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. On the whole a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Kew.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Kew. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Setting out your rights in respect of the communal areas in the building.For example, does the lease include a right of way over a path or staircase?
• Does the lease prevent you from renting out the flat, or working from home
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Kew. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Kew where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Kew conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can one make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Kew conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

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

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Kew flat is Flat 1 30 Ennismore Avenue in September 2010. the Tribunal adopted and arrived at a premium for the lease extension of £29, 900 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 68.34 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Kew - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

You should be aware if it is fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most Kewlease extensions you would be required to have owned the property for 24 months before you are eligible to exercise a lease extension. It would be sensible to discover as much as possible concerning the company managing the building as they will either make your living at the property much easier or much more difficult. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are often in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical issues like the tidiness of the communal areas. Enquire of other tenants what they think of their service. On a final note, be sure you understand the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and precisely how they are spending the funds.