My husband and I may need to rent out our North West London 1st floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a North West London conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your last North West London conveyancing lawyer is not around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain consent from your landlord or some other party before 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 the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

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

I am hoping to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in North West London. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in North West London should include some of the following:

• Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?
• You need to be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

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

I work for a long established estate agency in North West London where we see a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local North West London conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in North West London from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in North West London can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in North West London state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy formality and delays many a North West London home move. If a reissued share is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 200000 flat in North West London next Tuesday . The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in North West London?

North West London conveyancing on leasehold flats usually requires the buyer’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

I invested in buying a leasehold flat in North West London, conveyancing having been completed in 1997. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in North West London with an extended lease are worth £187,000. The ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2076

With 50 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £33,300 and £38,400 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.