I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Hove. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Hove - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

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

Even though your last Hove conveyancing lawyer is not available you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must obtain consent via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior consent. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I own a leasehold flat in Hove. Conveyancing and Britannia mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Hove who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Hove 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 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Hove from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hove can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Hove state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you dont have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in advance.
• A minority of Hove leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents 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 yearly 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 essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous 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 settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Hove home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Hove what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Hove. All leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Leeds Building Society, and Britannia all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I inherited a studio flat in Hove, conveyancing was carried out 3 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Hove with an extended lease are worth £189,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2090

With only 64 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £15,200 and £17,600 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 extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.