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

The lease governs relations between the landlord and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Haddenham do not contain subletting altogether – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the tenancy agreement.

There are only 62 years left on my flat in Haddenham. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. 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 lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent would be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Haddenham.

I’m about to sell my garden apartment in Haddenham.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Haddenham with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Haddenham can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Haddenham state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you fail to have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.

A minority of Haddenham leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain 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 purchasers or their solicitors.

If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 unsettled.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy formality and slows down many a Haddenham conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £300000 maisonette in Haddenham on Friday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Haddenham?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Haddenham conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Haddenham
• 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 Haddenham leasehold property is £350. For Haddenham 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 the information.

I bought a leasehold flat in Haddenham, conveyancing was carried out 2003. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar properties in Haddenham with a long lease are worth £251,000. The ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2084

With 59 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £21,900 and £25,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Haddenham