Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our North Ockendon garden flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a North Ockendon conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last North Ockendon conveyancing lawyer is not around you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek consent via your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in North Ockendon. 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 North Ockendon should include some of the following:

• Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the flat, or working from home
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

I am attracted to a two maisonettes in North Ockendon both have approximately 50 years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in North Ockendon is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the salability of the property. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with North Ockendon conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in North Ockendon. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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. A critical element 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in North Ockendon with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in North Ockendon can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in North Ockendon charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in North Ockendon.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? North Ockendon leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you dont have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer in the first instance.
• Some North Ockendon leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

Following months of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in North Ockendon. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a North Ockendon conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a North Ockendon premises is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 57.5 years.

I acquired a 1 bedroom flat in North Ockendon, conveyancing was carried out 2002. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in North Ockendon with a long lease are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2095

With 69 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.