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

Notwithstanding that your last Groby and Ratby conveyancing lawyer is not available you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to seek permission via your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I only have 72 years unexpired on my lease in Groby and Ratby. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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 magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Groby and Ratby.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to be perfect, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Groby and Ratby. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Groby and Ratby ?

The majority of houses in Groby and Ratby are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Groby and Ratby so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Groby and Ratby conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the landlord’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your lawyer will appraise you on the various issues.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Groby and Ratby from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Groby and Ratby can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Groby and Ratby state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you fail to have the paperwork in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.

Some Groby and Ratby leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 buyers or their lawyers.

If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a Groby and Ratby home move. Where a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible 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 £450000 apartment in Groby and Ratby on Monday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Groby and Ratby?

Groby and Ratby conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times results in fees being levied by management companies :

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Groby and Ratby
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 Groby and Ratby leasehold premises is £350. For Groby and Ratby 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 provide the information.

I invested in buying a ground floor flat in Groby and Ratby, conveyancing formalities finalised 1998. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent flats in Groby and Ratby with a long lease are worth £203,000. The ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2076

You have 50 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £39,000 and £45,000 plus 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 supply a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Groby and Ratby