I wish to let out my leasehold apartment in Morganstown. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your last Morganstown conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must seek consent via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I only have 62 years remaining on my flat in Morganstown. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

If 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 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 or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Morganstown.

I have just started marketing my garden flat in Morganstown.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is pay 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 unless 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.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £350000 flat in Morganstown next week. The landlords agents has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Morganstown?

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

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Morganstown
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Morganstown leasehold premises is £350. For Morganstown 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 answers.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Morganstown what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Morganstown. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain sections are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Nationwide Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed conveyancing instructions 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, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

I bought a studio flat in Morganstown, conveyancing was carried out 5 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Morganstown with an extended lease are worth £225,000. The ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2076

With only 51 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £38,000 and £44,000 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Morganstown