My husband and I may need to rent out our Aylesbury 1st floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Aylesbury conveyancing practice in 2002 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?

Even though your last Aylesbury conveyancing lawyer is not available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain consent from your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I only have Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Aylesbury. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. On the whole a specialist may be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Aylesbury.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Aylesbury which have about 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Aylesbury is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises 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 Aylesbury 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 They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Aylesbury. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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).

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Aylesbury conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Aylesbury conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you talk with two or three firms including non Aylesbury conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How many lease extensions have they completed in Aylesbury in the last 12 months?

I own a 1 bedroom flat in Aylesbury, conveyancing was carried out 2009. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Aylesbury with a long lease are worth £206,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease expires on 21st October 2080

With 55 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £25,700 and £29,600 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Aylesbury