My wife and I may need to rent out our Surrey Quays basement flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Surrey Quays conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut 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 Surrey Quays 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 suggests 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 consent.

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold flat in Surrey Quays. Conveyancing and Britannia mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Surrey Quays who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Surrey Quays conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Surrey Quays conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Surrey Quays conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Surrey Quays conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?

What volume of lease extensions have they carried out in Surrey Quays in the last 12 months?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Surrey Quays from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Surrey Quays can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Surrey Quays levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Surrey Quays.

Some Surrey Quays leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any 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 buyers or their lawyers.

If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy formality and slows down many a Surrey Quays home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £175000 garden flat in Surrey Quays on Monday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Surrey Quays?

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

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Surrey Quays
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Surrey Quays leasehold premises is £350. For Surrey Quays 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 required to provide answers.

Having spent years of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Surrey Quays. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Surrey Quays conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Surrey Quays property is 12, 14 & 16 Hull Close in May 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the acquisition of the freehold to the subject premises was the sum of £18,300 This case related to 3 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 101.61 years.