My husband and I may need to let out our Hingham basement flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Hingham conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Hingham conveyancing solicitor is not around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to seek permission from your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without first obtaining permission. Such consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold flat in Hingham. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Hingham who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Hingham conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Hingham conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Hingham conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Hingham conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Hingham in the last 12 months?

Can they put you in touch with client in Hingham who can give a testimonial?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Hingham with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hingham can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Hingham charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Hingham.

Some Hingham leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Hingham conveyancing deal. Where a new share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £500000 maisonette in Hingham in 5 days. The freeholder has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Hingham?

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

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Hingham
• 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 Hingham leasehold property is £350. For Hingham 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.

I acquired a leasehold flat in Hingham, conveyancing having been completed 7 years ago. 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 flats in Hingham with a long lease are worth £240,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease terminates on 21st October 2085

You have 59 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £20,000 and £23,000 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs 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 clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Hingham