My partner and I may need to sub-let our Upper Clapton ground floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Upper Clapton conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

The lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, 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 expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Upper Clapton do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

I have recently realised that I have Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Upper Clapton. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Upper Clapton.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Upper Clapton.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you discharge the invoice 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 unless 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.

Completion in due on our sale of a £225000 garden flat in Upper Clapton in just under a week. The management company has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Upper Clapton?

Upper Clapton conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically involves fees being levied by freeholders :

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Upper Clapton
• 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 conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Upper Clapton leasehold premises is £350. For Upper Clapton 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 supply answers.

I own a ground-floor 1960’s flat in Upper Clapton. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Upper Clapton conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Upper Clapton property is Flat 25, Stamford Hill Mansions Stamford Hill in April 2010. The Tribunal therefore determined that the premium to be paid by the lessee to the freeholder for the extension of the lease should be £28,984.00 This case affected 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 59 years.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Upper Clapton what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Upper Clapton. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Nationwide Building Society, Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Upper Clapton