Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Lechlade. Before diving in I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Lechlade - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

My husband and I may need to let out our Lechlade ground floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Lechlade conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut 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?

The lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Lechlade do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I own a leasehold flat in Lechlade. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Lechlade who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Lechlade conveyancing firm 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 rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Lechlade. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Lechlade where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Lechlade conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means 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 prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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 acquired a 2 bed flat in Lechlade, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in Lechlade with a long lease are worth £260,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2088

With 62 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £17,100 and £19,800 as well as legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.