Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in New Inn. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and most are in New Inn - 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.

My husband and I may need to sub-let our New Inn 1st floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a New Inn conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in New Inn do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in New Inn which have about fifty years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I work for a busy estate agent office in New Inn where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local New Inn conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

We expect to complete our sale of a £300000 garden flat in New Inn next Monday . The freeholder has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in New Inn?

New Inn conveyancing on leasehold flats normally results in administration charges raised by management companies :

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in New Inn
• 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 New Inn leasehold premises is £350. For New Inn 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 supply the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in New Inn - Sample of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

The best form of lease structure is if the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the lessees have being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is usually retained where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. What prohibitions are contained in the New Inn Lease? Can you tell me if there are any major works on the horizon that will increase the service fees?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in New Inn