I want to sublet my leasehold flat in Ferryside. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Notwithstanding that your previous Ferryside conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged 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 prior consent. Such consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Ferryside both have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Ferryside is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Ferryside conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Ferryside. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Ferryside with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ferryside can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Ferryside leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Should you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.

A minority of Ferryside leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual 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 purchasers or their solicitors.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Ferryside conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share certificate is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

We expect to complete our sale of a £175000 apartment in Ferryside on Wednesday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Ferryside?

Ferryside conveyancing on leasehold flats usually results in administration charges raised by landlords agents :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Ferryside
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Ferryside leasehold premises is £350. For Ferryside 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 obliged to supply answers.

I acquired a studio flat in Ferryside, conveyancing was carried out 7 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding flats in Ferryside with a long lease are worth £240,000. The ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2084

With only 58 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £24,700 and £28,600 plus costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you 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 are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Ferryside