My wife and I may need to sub-let our Olney 1st floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Olney conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Olney conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek consent via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without prior permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Olney. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Olney where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Olney conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner 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 need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a Olney conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Olney conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Olney conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 450000 apartment in Olney in 5 days. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Olney?

Olney conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not requires the buyer’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries most will be content to assist. They may invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

I own a 2 bed flat in Olney, conveyancing was carried out 5 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Olney with an extended lease are worth £190,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2083

You have 57 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £24,700 and £28,600 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range 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 in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.