My wife and I may need to sub-let our St Paul's Cray basement flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a St Paul's Cray conveyancing firm in 2002 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 last St Paul's Cray conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to seek permission from your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. 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.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have since found out that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in St Paul's Cray. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in St Paul's Cray ?

Most houses in St Paul's Cray are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in St Paul's Cray so you should seriously consider shopping around for a St Paul's Cray conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your solicitor will advise you fully on all the issues.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in St Paul's Cray. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in St Paul's Cray from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Paul's Cray can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in St Paul's Cray levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St Paul's Cray.

If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? St Paul's Cray leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. If you fail to have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.

Some St Paul's Cray leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.

If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £150000 apartment in St Paul's Cray in nine days. The management company has quoted £336 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in St Paul's Cray?

For most leasehold sales in St Paul's Cray conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in St Paul's Cray
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Paul's Cray leasehold premises is £350. For St Paul's 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 supply the information.

I own a basement flat in St Paul's Cray. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum payable for a lease extension?

if there is a missing freeholder 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 First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a St Paul's Cray property 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 unexpired residue of the current lease was 50.57 years.