I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Marks Gate. Before I get started I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and most are in Marks Gate - 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.

Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our Marks Gate ground floor flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a Marks Gate conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Marks Gate do not prevent subletting altogether – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Marks Gate both have in the region of 50 years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Marks Gate is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the value of the property. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Marks Gate conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Marks Gate conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Marks Gate conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Marks Gate conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Marks Gate who can give a testimonial?
• What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £ 450000 flat in Marks Gate next week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Marks Gate?

Marks Gate conveyancing on leasehold flats ordinarily results in fees being invoiced by management companies :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Marks Gate
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 Marks Gate leasehold premises is £350. For Marks Gate 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 provide the information.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can one make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Marks Gate conveyancing firm to represent me?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Marks Gate conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Marks Gate 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 was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 61.36 years.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Marks Gate, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar properties in Marks Gate with a long lease are worth £240,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2083

You have 57 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £24,700 and £28,600 plus 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 detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.