My partner and I may need to rent out our Southall 1st floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Southall conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Southall do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years remaining on my lease in Southall. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

If you qualify, 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Southall.

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Southall where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Southall conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate 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. This means that the proposed purchaser 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 before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 buyer.

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

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Southall conveyancing practice) 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 talk with several firms including non Southall conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

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

I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Southall. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

if there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Southall property is 33 Barbican Road in January 2013. The Tribunals calculation of the lease extension premium payable was £17,592. This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 55.12 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Southall what are the most frequent lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Southall is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are erroneous. 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.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Bank of Scotland, and Clydesdale 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 provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Southall