Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our St Mary Cray basement flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a St Mary Cray conveyancing practice in 2001 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 St Mary Cray conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must obtain consent from your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without prior permission. Such consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years left on my flat in St Mary Cray. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering St Mary Cray.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a basement flat in St Mary Cray. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

The total extent of the premises. This will be the property itself but may incorporate a roof space or basement if appropriate.

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in St Mary Cray please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in St Mary Cray

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in St Mary Cray. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in St Mary Cray who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a St Mary Cray conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £175000 garden flat in St Mary Cray next week. The management company has quoted £336 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 St Mary Cray?

St Mary Cray conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates administration charges levied by managing agents :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in St Mary Cray
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for St Mary Cray leasehold property is £350. For St Mary Cray conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to provide answers.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can one apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a St Mary Cray conveyancing firm to assist?

in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where 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 decision for a St Mary Cray premises is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 50.57 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in St Mary Cray