I want to sublet my leasehold flat in Ivybridge. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your previous Ivybridge conveyancing lawyer is not around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain permission via your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Ivybridge.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay 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 management companies 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.

Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold house in Ivybridge. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Ivybridge who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Ivybridge conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note 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.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Ivybridge where we see a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Ivybridge conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £125000 apartment in Ivybridge in just under a week. The management company has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Ivybridge?

Ivybridge conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually involves the purchaser’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions most will be content to do so. They may charge a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

I invested in buying a 1 bedroom flat in Ivybridge, conveyancing having been completed in 2003. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable properties in Ivybridge with over 90 years remaining are worth £228,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2076

With only 51 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £37,100 and £42,800 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Ivybridge