Harry (my fiance) and I may need to rent out our Burnham On Crouch basement flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Burnham On Crouch conveyancing firm in 2001 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?

Even though your previous Burnham On Crouch conveyancing lawyer is not around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek consent from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

There are only Seventy years remaining on my lease in Burnham On Crouch. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

If 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Burnham On Crouch.

I’m about to sell my basement flat in Burnham On Crouch.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have since discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Burnham On Crouch. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Burnham On Crouch are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Burnham On Crouch in which case you should be shopping around for a Burnham On Crouch conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the freeholder’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should report to you on the legal implications.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Burnham On Crouch. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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 invested in buying a studio flat in Burnham On Crouch, conveyancing was carried out 2006. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Burnham On Crouch with over 90 years remaining are worth £208,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2090

With just 70 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. 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 taken into account and clearly you should 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 Burnham On Crouch