My fiance and I may need to sub-let our South Hackney 1st floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a South Hackney conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous South Hackney conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain consent via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to 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]

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in South Hackney. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Setting out your rights in respect of the communal areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease include a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
• Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
• You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in South Hackney please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in South Hackney

Back In 2005, I bought a leasehold flat in South Hackney. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in South Hackney who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a South Hackney conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am attracted to a two apartments in South Hackney which have approximately 50 years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in South Hackney where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local South Hackney conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Having spent months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in South Hackney. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a South Hackney conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a South Hackney premises is 150 Amhurst Road in December 2013. The tribunal concluded that the premium to be paid by the applicant for the enfranchisement of the subject property was £43,500. This case affected 4 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 90 (or thereabouts).

I am the registered owner of a basement flat in South Hackney, conveyancing formalities finalised 4 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent properties in South Hackney with a long lease are worth £188,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2076

With only 50 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £34,200 and £39,600 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.