Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Aldborough Hatch. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

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

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

Even though your last Aldborough Hatch conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Aldborough Hatch. 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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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 work for a reputable estate agent office in Aldborough Hatch where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Aldborough Hatch conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. 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 purchaser.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Aldborough Hatch with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Aldborough Hatch can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Aldborough Hatch levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Aldborough Hatch.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Aldborough Hatch state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Should you dont have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.
• Some Aldborough Hatch leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Aldborough Hatch home move. Where a new share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

Having spent months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Aldborough Hatch. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Aldborough Hatch conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Aldborough Hatch property is 49 Aldborough Road South in July 2012. The Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of the new lease was £13,925 This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 61.36 years.

I purchased a basement flat in Aldborough Hatch, conveyancing formalities finalised 2005. 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? Similar flats in Aldborough Hatch with an extended lease are worth £230,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease ends on 21st October 2086

With just 60 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £22,800 and £26,400 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.