I would like to sublet my leasehold apartment in Wennington. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

The lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Wennington do not prevent subletting altogether – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the sublease.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years remaining on my flat in Wennington. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 prove that you have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Wennington.

I’m about to sell my garden flat in Wennington.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you clear 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 own a leasehold house in Wennington. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Wennington who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Wennington 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 freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £ 325000 apartment in Wennington next Wednesday . The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Wennington?

For most leasehold sales in Wennington conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Wennington
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Wennington leasehold property is £350. For Wennington 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 obliged to provide the information.

I am the leaseholder of a ground-floor 1960’s flat in Wennington. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to decide the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Wennington residence is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case affected 13 flats. The unexpired lease term was 76 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Wennington - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the leaseholders? Be sure to discover if the the lease contains any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. For example it is very common in Wennington leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Wennington. If you love the flatin Wennington however your dog can’t make the move with you then you have a very difficult choice. The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the lessees benefit from control and although a managing agent is often retained if it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.