Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our Kidbrooke ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Kidbrooke conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed 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 last Kidbrooke conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I only have 72 years unexpired on my lease in Kidbrooke. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Kidbrooke.

I own a leasehold house in Kidbrooke. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Kidbrooke who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Kidbrooke conveyancing solicitor 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Kidbrooke from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kidbrooke can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Kidbrooke state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you fail to have the paperwork in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.

A minority of Kidbrooke leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 buyers or their solicitors.

If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to 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 over rather than ongoing.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy process and frustrates many a Kidbrooke home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £425000 maisonette in Kidbrooke next Tuesday . The landlords agents has quoted £336 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Kidbrooke?

For most leasehold sales in Kidbrooke conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Kidbrooke
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Kidbrooke leasehold property is £350. For Kidbrooke conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to supply answers.

I am the proprietor of a garden flat in Kidbrooke. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum payable for the purchase of the freehold?

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the price payable.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Kidbrooke residence is 18 Handen Road in April 2013. On 26 October 2012 District Judge Zimmels sitting at the Lambeth County Court made a Vesting Order that the Applicants be granted the right to acquire the freehold upon such terms and at such price determined by the LVT. The Tribunal arrived a figure of £39,535 as a valuation for the enfranchisement. This case affected 3 flats. The unexpired term was 69.05 years.