I am intending to sublet my leasehold apartment in Shirley. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Even though your previous Shirley conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain consent via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I own a leasehold house in Shirley. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Shirley who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Shirley conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Shirley where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Shirley conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 appointing a Shirley conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Shirley conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Shirley conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?

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

if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Shirley flat is 29 Woodstock Road in April 2014. the Tribunal determined that the premiums to be paid into court in respect of the purchase of the freehold registered at HMLR under Title N0.SY3997 should be £7,217. This case was in relation to 4 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 98 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Shirley what are the most common lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Shirley is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Barnsley Building Society, and Britannia all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.