My partner and I may need to sub-let our Arnside basement flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Arnside conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Arnside do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

I have just started marketing my 2 bed flat in Arnside.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Arnside both have in the region of 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Arnside. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Arnside where we see a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Arnside conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

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. 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 at the same time as 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.

Completion in due on the sale of our £200000 flat in Arnside in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Arnside?

Arnside conveyancing on leasehold apartments typically results in fees being raised by management companies :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Arnside
• 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 Arnside leasehold premises is £350. For Arnside 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 obliged to supply the information.

I acquired a 1st floor flat in Arnside, conveyancing formalities finalised 8 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent flats in Arnside with an extended lease are worth £189,000. The ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease runs out on 21st October 2092

With only 68 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £13,300 and £15,400 plus costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive 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 considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Arnside