Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our Merton Park 1st floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Merton Park conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Merton Park conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain consent from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior permission. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Merton Park. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Merton Park please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Merton Park

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Merton Park. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Merton Park who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Merton Park conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Merton Park conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Merton Park conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Merton Park conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

How many lease extensions has the firm carried out in Merton Park in the last year?

All being well we will complete the sale of our £375000 flat in Merton Park next week. The landlords agents has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Merton Park?

For most leasehold sales in Merton Park conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Merton Park
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Merton Park leasehold premises is £350. For Merton Park 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 obliged to supply the information.

I am the registered owner of a a ground floor purpose built flat in Merton Park. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for a lease extension?

Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Merton Park conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Merton Park premises is 14 Nutwell Street in January 2014. The premium payable for the acquisition of a new lease of the subject premises was in the sum of £30,523 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 62.94 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Merton Park