My partner and I may need to let out our Hellesdon ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Hellesdon conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Hellesdon conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I only have Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Hellesdon. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. On the whole a specialist would be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord 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 Hellesdon.

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Hellesdon. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Hellesdon should include some of the following:

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

I own a leasehold flat in Hellesdon. Conveyancing and Halifax mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Hellesdon who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Hellesdon conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I work for a long established estate agency in Hellesdon where we see a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Hellesdon conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

I bought a garden flat in Hellesdon, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2005. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent properties in Hellesdon with an extended lease are worth £180,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2095

With only 70 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Hellesdon