My wife and I may need to let out our New Cross 1st floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We instructed a New Cross conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous New Cross conveyancing lawyer is not around you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent from your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without prior consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in New Cross. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I work for a busy estate agency in New Cross where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local New Cross conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a New Cross conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a New Cross conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non New Cross conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How many lease extensions has the firm carried out in New Cross in the last year?
• What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £ 125000 maisonette in New Cross in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in New Cross?

For most leasehold sales in New Cross 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-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in New Cross
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for New Cross leasehold property is £350. For New Cross 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 required to supply the information.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such matters? Can you recommend a New Cross conveyancing firm to assist?

if there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the sum to be paid.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a New Cross residence is 41 Endwell Road in March 2013. this matter relateed to the acquisition of the freehold of a mid- terraced Victorian house converted into three separate self-contained dwellings. By an order dated 28/11/2012, Deputy District Judge Cole in the Bromley County Court held that the leaseholders were entitled to acquire the freehold and directed that the premium payable be determined by this Tribunal. The Tribunal assessed the premium to be £14,753 This case related to 3 flats. The unexpired lease term was 80.01 years.

I own a 2 bed flat in New Cross, conveyancing was carried out in 2002. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in New Cross with a long lease are worth £184,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease terminates on 21st October 2083

With only 57 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £26,600 and £30,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.