I wish to rent out my leasehold flat in Maida Hill. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your previous Maida Hill conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I only have Seventy years remaining on my flat in Maida Hill. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Maida Hill.

You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Maida Hill. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Maida Hill should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Setting out your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
• Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Maida Hill please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Maida Hill

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Maida Hill. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Maida Hill are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Maida Hill so you should seriously consider looking for a Maida Hill conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your lawyer should appraise you on the various issues.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £ 350000 apartment in Maida Hill on Friday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Maida Hill?

Maida Hill conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times necessitates administration charges levied by landlords agents :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Maida Hill
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Maida Hill leasehold premises is £350. For Maida Hill 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 answers.

Following months of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Maida Hill. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Maida Hill premises is Flat 1 57 Oxford Gardens in January 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premium to be paidfor a new lease is £61,650.00. This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 60 years.

I own a 1st floor flat in Maida Hill, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. 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 flats in Maida Hill with over 90 years remaining are worth £196,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2096

With just 70 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £11,400 and £13,200 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.