My husband and I may need to let out our Knightsbridge garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Knightsbridge conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your last Knightsbridge conveyancing lawyer 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 lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. 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 Sixty One years left on my flat in Knightsbridge. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that 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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Knightsbridge.

I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Knightsbridge.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge 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 managing agents 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 am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Knightsbridge where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Knightsbridge conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £375000 garden flat in Knightsbridge in 10 days. The freeholder has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Knightsbridge?

Knightsbridge conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not requires the purchaser’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions most will be content to do so. They may levy a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information 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 sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

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

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to decide the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Knightsbridge residence is Flat 3 47 Cadogan Square in December 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable to the landord by the leaseholder for the lease extension was £732,935 This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 13.33 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Knightsbridge