I wish to rent out my leasehold apartment in Stoke Newington. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your last Stoke Newington conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent via your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Stoke Newington. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, 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. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Stoke Newington.

I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Stoke Newington both have in the region of 50 years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Stoke Newington from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Stoke Newington can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Stoke Newington levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Stoke Newington.
• Some Stoke Newington leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a Stoke Newington home move. If a duplicate share is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £ 250000 apartment in Stoke Newington in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Stoke Newington?

Stoke Newington conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually necessitates the buyer’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They are at liberty charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is above £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a Stoke Newington conveyancing firm to represent me?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Stoke Newington conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Stoke Newington residence is Lower Flat 16A Beatty Road in September 2012. The premium payable was £13,577. The terms of the lease has been agreed between the Applicants and the First Respondent and the Tribunal did not seek to disturb that agreement. This case affected 1 flat.

I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Stoke Newington, conveyancing was carried out 7 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar properties in Stoke Newington with over 90 years remaining are worth £180,000. The ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2105

You have 79 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.