I would like to sublet my leasehold flat in Farnham Common. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

A lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will set out if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Farnham Common do not prevent subletting altogether – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years remaining on my flat in Farnham Common. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Farnham Common.

I have just appointed agents to market my garden flat in Farnham Common.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you discharge the invoice 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 until 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 tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Farnham Common both have approximately forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Farnham Common. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Farnham Common from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Farnham Common can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Farnham Common charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Farnham Common.
• A minority of Farnham Common leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

I acquired a ground floor flat in Farnham Common, conveyancing having been completed in 1999. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Farnham Common with over 90 years remaining are worth £227,000. The ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2080

With 54 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £27,600 and £31,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.