My wife and I may need to rent out our Tooting 1st floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Tooting conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

The lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Tooting do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the sublease.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Tooting. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Tooting should include some of the following:

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

I own a leasehold flat in Tooting. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Tooting who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Tooting 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 rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a long established estate agency in Tooting where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Tooting conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £225000 flat in Tooting on Wednesday in a week. The management company has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Tooting?

Tooting conveyancing on leasehold flats often necessitates the buyer’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is above £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has no choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Tooting conveyancing firm to help?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Tooting conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Tooting property is 14 Nutwell Street in January 2014. The premium payable for the acquisition of a new lease of the subject premises was in the sum of £30,523 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 62.94 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Tooting