I am intending to rent out my leasehold apartment in Kirkby Lonsdale. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

The lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Kirkby Lonsdale do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the sublease.

There are only 62 years remaining on my flat in Kirkby Lonsdale. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Kirkby Lonsdale.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Kirkby Lonsdale. Conveyancing and Halifax mortgage are in place. 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 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Kirkby Lonsdale who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Kirkby Lonsdale conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Kirkby Lonsdale. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Kirkby Lonsdale from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kirkby Lonsdale can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Kirkby Lonsdale charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kirkby Lonsdale.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Kirkby Lonsdale leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Where you fail to have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where a dispute is unresolved. You may have to bite the bullet and pay 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

I am the registered owner of a split level flat in Kirkby Lonsdale, 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? Corresponding properties in Kirkby Lonsdale with an extended lease are worth £194,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2092

With 66 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £12,400 and £14,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

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