My husband and I may need to sub-let our Manor Park 1st floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Manor Park conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

The lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will say if subletting is not allowed, 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. Most leases in Manor Park do not contain subletting altogether – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Manor Park. Conveyancing and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Manor Park who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Manor Park conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Manor Park where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Manor Park conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Manor Park from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Manor Park can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Manor Park charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Manor Park.
• Some Manor Park leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The 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 hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a Manor Park conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the sale of our £ 175000 apartment in Manor Park in six days. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Manor Park?

Manor Park conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually necessitates the purchaser’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They may levy a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can one make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Manor Park conveyancing firm to represent me?

Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Manor Park conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Manor Park residence is 240 Strone Road in January 2014. the tribunal held that the price to be paid for the freehold interest was£23,538 of which£13,017 is attributable to the ground floor flat and £10,521 to the
first floor flat. This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term was 65.5 years.

I invested in buying a 1 bedroom flat in Manor Park, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent properties in Manor Park with a long lease are worth £246,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2080

With only 54 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £27,600 and £31,800 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.