Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Chalfont St Giles. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Chalfont St Giles - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

I wish to rent out my leasehold apartment in Chalfont St Giles. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Notwithstanding that your last Chalfont St Giles conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Chalfont St Giles.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is clear 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 work for a reputable estate agent office in Chalfont St Giles where we see a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Chalfont St Giles conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as 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 buyer need not have to wait 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.

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 choosing a Chalfont St Giles conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Chalfont St Giles conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Chalfont St Giles conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

• What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Chalfont St Giles in the last twenty four months?

I acquired a 2 bed flat in Chalfont St Giles, conveyancing formalities finalised 1997. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Chalfont St Giles with a long lease are worth £262,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2076

With just 51 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £38,000 and £44,000 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 supply the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Chalfont St Giles