My partner and I may need to sub-let our Wembley Park basement flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Wembley Park conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your last Wembley Park conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek consent via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Wembley Park. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• Setting out your rights in respect of the communal areas in the block.For example, does the lease include a right of way over a path or staircase?
• Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
• Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the flat, or working from home
• You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden flat in Wembley Park.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Wembley Park with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Wembley Park can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Wembley Park leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Where you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
• A minority of Wembley Park leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had conflict 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 concerned about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming formality and delays many a Wembley Park conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

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 Wembley Park. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

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

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Wembley Park residence is Ground Floor Flat 69 Clifton Avenue in March 2012. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable for the new lease was £5,932 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 76.06 years.

What are the common deficiencies that you witness in leases for Wembley Park properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Wembley Park is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You may have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Santander, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I invested in buying a leasehold flat in Wembley Park, conveyancing having been completed in 2004. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar properties in Wembley Park with an extended lease are worth £265,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2089

With just 63 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £22,800 and £26,400 plus legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.