My husband and I may need to rent out our Meliden ground floor flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a Meliden conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Meliden do not prevent subletting altogether – 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 duplicate of the sublease.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years remaining on my flat in Meliden. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Meliden.

Expecting to exchange soon on a garden flat in Meliden. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Meliden with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Meliden can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers lawyers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Meliden state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Where you dont have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
• Some Meliden leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Organising a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a Meliden conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

What are the frequently found deficiencies that you witness in leases for Meliden properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Meliden is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Leeds Building Society, and Clydesdale all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I acquired a split level flat in Meliden, conveyancing was carried out 4 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable properties in Meliden with an extended lease are worth £266,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2089

With just 63 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £19,000 and £22,000 plus legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.