Helen (my wife) and I may need to sub-let our Lisson Grove basement flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Lisson Grove conveyancing firm 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?

Notwithstanding that your last Lisson Grove conveyancing lawyer is not available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Lisson Grove. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Lisson Grove should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

I have just started marketing my ground floor flat in Lisson Grove.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the invoice 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 until 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 attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Lisson Grove both have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Lisson Grove is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the value of the property. For most buyers and mortgage companies, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises 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 Lisson Grove conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend 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.

My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to purchase the freehold in Lisson Grove. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Where there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Lisson Grove property is Flats 37 & 39 88/90 Portland Place in December 2010. The Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the lease extensions in respect of these two flats is as follows:- For Flat 37, the sum of £385,230.00 For Flat 39, the sum of £436,780.00 This case related to 2 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 24.02 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Lisson Grove what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Lisson Grove. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and TSB all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Lisson Grove