I am intending to sublet my leasehold apartment in Castle Donington. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your last Castle Donington conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to seek consent via your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Looking forward to complete next month on a studio apartment in Castle Donington. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Castle Donington should include some of the following:

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

I am attracted to a two flats in Castle Donington which have about forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Castle Donington. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Castle Donington. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, 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 ensure 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 employed by a reputable estate agent office in Castle Donington where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Castle Donington conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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 proposed purchaser need not have 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 disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Castle Donington, conveyancing having been completed in 2012. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Castle Donington with over 90 years remaining are worth £182,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2090

With just 65 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £13,300 and £15,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Castle Donington