I would like to rent out my leasehold apartment in Buckingham. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your previous Buckingham conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must obtain consent via your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Buckingham. Conveyancing and Britannia mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Buckingham who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Buckingham conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Buckingham both have about fifty years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Buckingham is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive 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 a residence 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 Buckingham conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new 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.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £125000 maisonette in Buckingham in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Buckingham?

Buckingham conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually involves the buyer’s conveyancer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be willing to do so. They are at liberty charge a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

What makes a Buckingham lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Buckingham is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• 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

You will have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

I invested in buying a 1 bedroom flat in Buckingham, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent flats in Buckingham with an extended lease are worth £220,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2097

With 76 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £10,500 and £12,000 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 cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Buckingham