Harry (my fiance) and I may need to sub-let our Marylebone ground floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Marylebone conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Marylebone do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Marylebone. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
• The physical extent of the premises. This will be the apartment itself but may include a loft or basement if applicable.
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I work for a busy estate agent office in Marylebone where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Marylebone conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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 buyer.

We expect to complete the sale of our £ 375000 flat in Marylebone next week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Marylebone?

Marylebone conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not requires the purchaser’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is above £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Having spent years of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Marylebone. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Marylebone conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Marylebone flat 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 was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 24.02 years.

What makes a Marylebone lease unacceptable for security purposes?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Marylebone. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• 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 primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Skipton Building Society, and Clydesdale all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Marylebone Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying

The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is often employed if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.