Helen (my wife) and I may need to sub-let our Peacehaven garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Peacehaven conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Peacehaven conveyancing lawyer is not available you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Peacehaven. I now wish 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 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 lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. For most situations a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Peacehaven.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Peacehaven. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Peacehaven who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Peacehaven conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a busy estate agent office in Peacehaven where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Peacehaven conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence 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 at the same time as 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 buyer.

We expect to complete the sale of our £225000 apartment in Peacehaven next Thursday . The managing agents has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Peacehaven?

Peacehaven conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates the buyer’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions the majority will be content to do so. They may charge a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is above £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

I purchased a 1st floor flat in Peacehaven, conveyancing having been completed in 1995. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Peacehaven with an extended lease are worth £174,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease terminates on 21st October 2104

You have 80 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Peacehaven