I would like to let out my leasehold apartment in Aberporth. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

A lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will set out if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Aberporth do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the sublease.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Aberporth. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Aberporth where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Aberporth conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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 purchaser.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Aberporth from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Aberporth can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Aberporth levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Aberporth.

We expect to complete the sale of our £150000 garden flat in Aberporth in six days. The managing agents has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Aberporth?

Aberporth conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not involves the buyer’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions the majority will be content to do so. They may charge a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

I own a split level flat in Aberporth, conveyancing formalities finalised 1998. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Aberporth with over 90 years remaining are worth £194,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2082

You have 57 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £27,600 and £31,800 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Aberporth