My partner and I may need to sub-let our Mill Hill garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Mill Hill conveyancing firm 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?

Notwithstanding that your previous Mill Hill conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek consent via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in Mill Hill.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the service charge 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 unless 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.

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold house in Mill Hill. Conveyancing and TSB mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Mill Hill who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Mill Hill conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Mill Hill from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Mill Hill can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Mill Hill state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Where you dont have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.

Some Mill Hill leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly 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 solicitors.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to pay 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Mill Hill home move. Where a new share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £325000 apartment in Mill Hill in just under a week. The management company has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Mill Hill?

Mill Hill conveyancing on leasehold apartments typically involves fees being invoiced by managing agents :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Mill Hill
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Mill Hill leasehold premises is £350. For Mill Hill 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 proprietor of a two-bedroom flat in Mill Hill. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Mill Hill conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Mill Hill residence is Ground Floor Maisonette 17 Milton Road in January 2014. The Tribunal determined the premium payable by the Applicant to the should be £13,299 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 71.73 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Mill Hill