My fiance and I may need to let out our Kilburn 1st floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Kilburn conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Kilburn conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior permission. The consent should not 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 have recently realised that I have Seventy years remaining on my lease in Kilburn. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Kilburn.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Kilburn with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kilburn can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Kilburn levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kilburn.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Kilburn state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.

Some Kilburn leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain 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 lawyers.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Kilburn conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £125000 flat in Kilburn on Wednesday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Kilburn?

For most leasehold sales in Kilburn 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 pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Kilburn
• 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 Kilburn leasehold premises is £350. For Kilburn 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 required to supply the information.

We have reached the end of our tether in seeking a lease extension in Kilburn. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to judgment on the price payable.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Kilburn flat is 4 & 4A Charteris Road in June 2009. the Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the enfranchisement of 4/4a Charteris Road to be £15,510 for at 4and £15,694 for at 4a This case related to 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 70.02 years.

What are the common problems that you see in leases for Kilburn properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Kilburn is not unique. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You may have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Bank of Scotland, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Kilburn