Jane (my partner) and I may need to rent out our Southfields ground floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Southfields conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Southfields conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the premises. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Looking forward to complete next month on a garden flat in Southfields. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Southfields should include some of the following:

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• The total extent of the property. This will be the apartment itself but may include a roof space or basement if applicable.
• Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
• What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

I today plan to offer on a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently been informed that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Southfields. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Southfields are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Southfields in which case you should be looking for a Southfields conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the landlord’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor should appraise you on the various issues.

We expect to complete our sale of a £ 475000 apartment in Southfields on Tuesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Southfields?

Southfields conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually requires the purchaser’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I am the proprietor of a first floor flat in Southfields. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Where there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Southfields flat is 83 Balvernie Grove in February 2012. The Tribunal assessed the price to be paid by the leaseholder to the freeholder for the lease extension pursuant to section 48 of the Leasehold Reform Housing & Urban Development Act 1993 should be£16,603.00 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 69.32 years.

What are the frequently found problems that you see in leases for Southfields properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Southfields. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain sections are missing. 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 premises
• A duty to insure the building
• 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 can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. HSBC Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Southfields - A selection of Queries before buying

Is the freehold owned jointly by the leaseholders? The prefered form of lease structure is if the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this arrangement the tenants benefit from being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is frequently retained where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. Where a Southfields lease has less than 80 years it will affect the value of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Southfieldslease extensions you will need to own the property for 24 months before you are eligible to exercise a lease extension.