I am intending to sublet my leasehold flat in Bourne End. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your previous Bourne End conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent from your landlord or some other party in advance of 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 prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I only have 68 years unexpired on my lease in Bourne End. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. 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 apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Bourne End.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Bourne End where we see a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Bourne End conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that 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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Bourne End conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Bourne End conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non Bourne End conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing?

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Bourne End with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bourne End can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Bourne End charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bourne End.
• Some Bourne End leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and slows down many a Bourne End home move. If a new share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Bourne End, conveyancing was carried out 8 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Bourne End with over 90 years remaining are worth £176,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease ceases on 21st October 2105

With only 79 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £8,600 and £9,800 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on 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 want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.