My fiance and I may need to sub-let our Eaglescliffe basement flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Eaglescliffe conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your last Eaglescliffe conveyancing solicitor is not around you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. Such consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Due to exchange soon on a garden flat in Eaglescliffe. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
• The total extent of the premises. This will be the flat itself but may incorporate a loft or cellar if appropriate.
• Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Eaglescliffe please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Eaglescliffe

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Eaglescliffe. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation 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. A critical element 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 am employed by a busy estate agent office in Eaglescliffe where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Eaglescliffe conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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. The benefit of this is 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.

An alternative approach is 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.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 175000 maisonette in Eaglescliffe next Thursday . The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Eaglescliffe?

Eaglescliffe conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically involves administration charges levied by managing agents :

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Eaglescliffe
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Eaglescliffe leasehold property is £350. For Eaglescliffe conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply answers.

Eaglescliffe Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

Many Eaglescliffe leasehold flats will incur a service charge for maintenance of the building set by the management company. Should you buy the property you will have to pay this amount, usually periodically throughout the year. This may vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, this is usually not a exorbitant amount, say about £50-£100 but you need to check it because occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds. Who are the managing agents?