I am intending to rent out my leasehold flat in South Croydon. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Your lease governs the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in South Croydon do not contain subletting altogether – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I own a leasehold house in South Croydon. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in South Croydon who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a South Croydon conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in South Croydon both have about 50 years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in South Croydon where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local South Croydon conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process 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 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 wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

My wife and I have hit a brick wall in negotiating a lease extension in South Croydon. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a South Croydon conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a South Croydon property is The Woodlands 95 Purley Park Road in April 2009. The Tribunals own valuation produced the fi
gure of £37,912. This case affected 6 flats. The unexpired term was 78.32 years.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in South Croydon what are the most common lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in South Croydon is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.