I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Kimbolton. Before diving in I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Kimbolton - 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.

Helen (my wife) and I may need to sub-let our Kimbolton 1st floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Kimbolton conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your last Kimbolton conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I own a leasehold flat in Kimbolton. Conveyancing and Bank of Ireland mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Kimbolton who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Kimbolton conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Kimbolton where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Kimbolton conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, 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 purchaser.

We expect to complete our sale of a £ 475000 apartment in Kimbolton in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Kimbolton?

Kimbolton conveyancing on leasehold flats normally involves administration charges raised by freeholders :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Kimbolton
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Kimbolton leasehold premises is £350. For Kimbolton 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 supply the information.

I purchased a 1st floor flat in Kimbolton, conveyancing formalities finalised 5 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Kimbolton with an extended lease are worth £229,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease terminates on 21st October 2083

You have 57 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £25,700 and £29,600 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed 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. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.