Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Hurst garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Hurst conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Hurst conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek consent via your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Hurst. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Hurst who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Hurst conveyancing solicitor 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 legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Hurst which have about 50 years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Hurst. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Hurst from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hurst can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Hurst leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. If you fail to have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
• Some Hurst leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 purchasers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Completion in due on the sale of our £ 400000 garden flat in Hurst next week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Hurst?

Hurst conveyancing on leasehold apartments often requires the purchaser’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They may invoice a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Hurst, conveyancing having been completed in 2003. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Hurst with over 90 years remaining are worth £185,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2090

With 64 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £14,300 and £16,400 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.