I wish to rent out my leasehold apartment in Lake District. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Even though your last Lake District conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I only have 68 years remaining on my flat in Lake District. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent would be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Lake District.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Lake District. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Lake District should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

I’m about to sell my garden apartment in Lake District.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you discharge the service charge 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Lake District where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Lake District conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with 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.

I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Lake District, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable properties in Lake District with a long lease are worth £195,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2079

With only 57 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £29,500 and £34,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Lake District