I am intending to let out my leasehold flat in Glan Conwy. 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 Glan Conwy conveyancing lawyer is not around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the premises. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain permission from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without prior permission. The consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

There are only 72 years remaining on my lease in Glan Conwy. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Glan Conwy.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Glan Conwy. Do I have any liability for 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. It is an essential part 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Glan Conwy from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Glan Conwy can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• A minority of Glan Conwy leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 lawyers.
• If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge 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 historic rather than ongoing.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Glan Conwy home move. If a new share is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where 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 wise to verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

We expect to complete our sale of a £ 500000 apartment in Glan Conwy on Tuesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Glan Conwy?

Glan Conwy conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not necessitates the buyer’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be content to do so. They may charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is above £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

I bought a ground floor flat in Glan Conwy, conveyancing formalities finalised 2005. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in Glan Conwy with over 90 years remaining are worth £195,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2079

With only 53 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £35,200 and £40,600 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.