Frank (my husband) and I may need to let out our High Peak garden flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a High Peak conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last High Peak conveyancing lawyer is no longer available 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. There may be a precondition that you must obtain permission via your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior permission. Such consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I have recently realised that I have 68 years unexpired on my flat in High Peak. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. On the whole a specialist would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering High Peak.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed flat in High Peak.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the invoice 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.

I work for a busy estate agency in High Peak where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local High Peak conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the vendor 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 425000 apartment in High Peak on Wednesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in High Peak?

For the majority of leasehold sales in High Peak 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-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in High Peak
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for High Peak leasehold premises is £350. For High Peak 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 answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in High Peak - Examples of Queries before buying

Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments? Plenty High Peak leasehold flats will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the block invoiced by the management company. Where you purchase the flat you will have to meet this amount, usually periodically accross the year. This could vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a large figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to check as sometimes it can be surprisingly expensive.