I would like to rent out my leasehold flat in Plaistow. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Even though your previous Plaistow conveyancing lawyer is not available you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to obtain consent from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I have recently realised that I have 72 years left on my flat in Plaistow. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Plaistow.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Plaistow. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. Strange as it may seem, 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 be sure 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 Plaistow from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Plaistow can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• Some Plaistow leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 purchasers or their lawyers.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £475000 flat in Plaistow on Thursday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Plaistow?

Plaistow conveyancing on leasehold flats normally involves the buyer’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They may levy a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

I own a first floor flat in Plaistow. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for a lease extension?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Plaistow residence is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 69.77 years.