I am intending to let out my leasehold apartment in Lea Bridge. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Notwithstanding that your last Lea Bridge conveyancing lawyer is not around you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you must obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without prior permission. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I only have 68 years unexpired on my lease in Lea Bridge. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. On the whole a specialist may be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Lea Bridge.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have since found out that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Lea Bridge. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Lea Bridge are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Lea Bridge so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Lea Bridge conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the landlord’spermission to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor will advise you fully on all the issues.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Lea Bridge which have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Lea Bridge is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Lea Bridge conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Lea Bridge where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Lea Bridge conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start 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 sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. 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.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

After months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Lea Bridge. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Lea Bridge conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Lea Bridge premises is 104 Nightingale Road in May 2009. The Tribunal's Decision is that the premium torbe paid for the enfranchisement in this case is £112,174 This case affected 10 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 71.25 years.