My fiance and I may need to rent out our Wormwood Scrubs basement flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Wormwood Scrubs conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Wormwood Scrubs conveyancing lawyer is not around you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining consent. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I have recently realised that I have 62 years remaining on my lease in Wormwood Scrubs. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Wormwood Scrubs.

I own a leasehold flat in Wormwood Scrubs. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Wormwood Scrubs who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Wormwood Scrubs conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Wormwood Scrubs. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 400000 maisonette in Wormwood Scrubs in seven days. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Wormwood Scrubs?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Wormwood Scrubs 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 pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Wormwood Scrubs
• 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 solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Wormwood Scrubs leasehold premises is £350. For Wormwood Scrubs 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 the information.

I am the proprietor of a first floor flat in Wormwood Scrubs. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

if there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the amount due.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Wormwood Scrubs flat is 23 & 23A Collingbourne Road in June 2013. Tribunal was dealing with the assessment of the value of the freehold reversion and determination of the terms of the acquisition pursuant to an Order of District Judge Lightman dated 25 February 2013 vesting the freehold interest in the property in the applicant. The tribunal assessed the price of the freehold (to which any arrears or other sums due to the missing landlord under the leases should be added) at £81,638. This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 64.5 years.

Wormwood Scrubs Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

Is anyone aware of any major works in the planning that will likely increase the maintenance costs?