My husband and I may need to let out our Lewisham basement flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Lewisham conveyancing practice in 2001 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?

The lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Lewisham do not prevent subletting altogether – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Lewisham. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. 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 lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Lewisham.

Planning to exchange soon on a basement flat in Lewisham. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

Setting out your rights in relation to the communal areas in the block.E.G., does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or staircase?

Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

Repair and maintenance of the flat

The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Lewisham please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Lewisham

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Lewisham with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Lewisham can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Lewisham state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Where you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.

A minority of Lewisham leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Lewisham home move. If a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £125000 garden flat in Lewisham in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Lewisham?

Lewisham conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually necessitates fees being levied by managing agents :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Lewisham
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Lewisham leasehold premises is £350. For Lewisham 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 provide the information.

I am the proprietor of a a ground floor purpose built flat in Lewisham. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for the purchase of the freehold?

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

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Lewisham flat is 73 Walerand Road in August 2012. the result of the findings of the Tribunal led to a premium to be paid for the extended lease in respect of Flat 73 in the sum of £10,040. The premium applicable in respect of Flat 85 was £5,710. This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 72 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Lewisham