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

Notwithstanding that your last Alfreton conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to seek permission via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining permission. The consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Alfreton. Conveyancing and Barnsley Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Alfreton who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Alfreton conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Alfreton which have about 50 years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Alfreton is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the value of the premises. The majority of buyers and mortgage companies, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Alfreton conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Alfreton. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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).

All being well we will complete the sale of our £175000 garden flat in Alfreton in nine days. The managing agents has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Alfreton?

For most leasehold sales in Alfreton conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Alfreton
• 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 Alfreton leasehold property is £350. For Alfreton 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 the information.

I inherited a 1st floor flat in Alfreton, conveyancing was carried out 9 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Alfreton with an extended lease are worth £267,000. The ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease runs out on 21st October 2079

With only 55 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £31,400 and £36,200 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Alfreton