I am intending to rent out my leasehold apartment in Perivale. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your previous Perivale conveyancing lawyer is not around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Perivale. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. In some cases a specialist may be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Perivale.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have since discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Perivale. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Perivale ?

The majority of houses in Perivale are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Perivale so you should seriously consider looking for a Perivale conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer should report to you on the legal implications.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Perivale conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Perivale conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Perivale conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

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

What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

We expect to complete our sale of a £125000 flat in Perivale next Tuesday . The freeholder has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Perivale?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Perivale 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 questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Perivale
• 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 Perivale leasehold property is £350. For Perivale 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 answers.

After years of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Perivale. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to calculate the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Perivale property is Ground Floor Flat 79 London Road in September 2012. the Tribunal held that the premium payable for the lease extension should be £7,636 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 74 years.