I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Chadderton. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Chadderton - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

My fiance and I may need to let out our Chadderton ground floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Chadderton conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

The lease governs relations between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Chadderton do not prevent subletting altogether – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

I work for a busy estate agency in Chadderton where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Chadderton conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have 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 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.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 400000 apartment in Chadderton on Tuesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Chadderton?

Chadderton conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not involves the purchaser’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to assist. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Chadderton what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Chadderton. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, Barnsley Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

I inherited a 1st floor flat in Chadderton, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Chadderton with over 90 years remaining are worth £244,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2103

With only 77 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.