My fiance and I may need to let out our Tooting ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Tooting conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your last Tooting conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must obtain consent via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I have just started marketing my basement flat in Tooting.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Tooting. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Tooting who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Tooting conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Tooting both have approximately fifty years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Tooting. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 125000 flat in Tooting in just under a week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Tooting?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Tooting conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Tooting
• 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 Tooting leasehold property is £350. For Tooting 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 the information.

I am the registered owner of a ground-floor 1950’s flat in Tooting. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for a lease extension?

Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the price.

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 unexpired term as at the valuation date was 62.94 years.

Tooting Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before buying

Are there any major works in the near future that will likely increase the maintenance costs? The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this situation the leaseholders have being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is often employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Please note if it is fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the premises for a couple of years before you are eligible to exercise a lease extension.