Frank (my husband) and I may need to let out our Bartley Green 1st floor flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a Bartley Green conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Bartley Green do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Bartley Green. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully 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 Bartley Green should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Bartley Green which have about forty five years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Bartley Green. 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. It is an essential part 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 agency in Bartley Green where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Bartley Green conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 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 agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

I purchased a 2 bed flat in Bartley Green, conveyancing having been completed in 2005. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent properties in Bartley Green with a long lease are worth £185,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2075

You have 55 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £28,500 and £33,000 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Bartley Green