I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Crawcrook. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Crawcrook - 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.

Jane (my partner) and I may need to let out our Crawcrook 1st floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Crawcrook conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Crawcrook conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out 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 from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Crawcrook.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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 management companies 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 am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Crawcrook where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Crawcrook conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Crawcrook with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Crawcrook can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Crawcrook charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Crawcrook.

I am the registered owner of a basement flat in Crawcrook, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar flats in Crawcrook with a long lease are worth £245,000. The ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2105

You have 79 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £13,300 and £15,400 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive 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 taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Crawcrook