My wife and I may need to rent out our Hungerford garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Hungerford conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Hungerford conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you must seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have since found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Hungerford. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Hungerford are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Hungerford so you should seriously consider looking for a Hungerford conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’spermission to conduct alterations. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your lawyer will report to you on the legal implications.

I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Hungerford both have approximately forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Hungerford is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the premises. For most buyers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Hungerford conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Hungerford. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Hungerford with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hungerford can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Hungerford charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hungerford.

I am the registered owner of a 2 bed flat in Hungerford, conveyancing formalities finalised 2011. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar properties in Hungerford with an extended lease are worth £241,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2095

You have 73 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £12,400 and £14,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Hungerford