My partner and I may need to sub-let our Ottery St Mary ground floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Ottery St Mary conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Ottery St Mary do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – 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.

Looking forward to complete next month on a leasehold property in Ottery St Mary. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

The total extent of the premises. This will be the flat itself but could also incorporate a loft or basement if applicable.

Are pets allowed in the flat?

Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or working from home

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

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 is in violation of a provision in their lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Ottery St Mary please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Ottery St Mary

I work for a busy estate agent office in Ottery St Mary where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Ottery St Mary conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 proposed purchaser 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 has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

Completion in due on the sale of our £350000 flat in Ottery St Mary next Tuesday . The freeholder has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Ottery St Mary?

Ottery St Mary conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times results in administration charges raised by landlords agents :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Ottery St Mary
• 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 Ottery St Mary leasehold premises is £350. For Ottery St Mary 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 supply answers.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Ottery St Mary what are the most frequent lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Ottery St Mary is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Santander, Skipton Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I bought a split level flat in Ottery St Mary, conveyancing was carried out 3 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar properties in Ottery St Mary with an extended lease are worth £231,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2084

You have 61 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £20,000 and £23,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" 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 without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Ottery St Mary