Helen (my wife) and I may need to sub-let our Bebington basement flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Bebington conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Bebington conveyancing lawyer is not available you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without prior consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Bebington 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 Bebington conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Bebington conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Bebington conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Bebington conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £400000 garden flat in Bebington in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Bebington?

Bebington conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates the purchaser’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be willing to assist. They are entitled invoice a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. 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 management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Bebington what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Bebington. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Skipton Building Society, and Bank of Ireland all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I bought a 2 bed flat in Bebington, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Bebington with over 90 years remaining are worth £204,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease ceases on 21st October 2086

You have 61 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £19,000 and £22,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bebington