Jane (my partner) and I may need to rent out our Peterlee ground floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Peterlee conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your last Peterlee 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 from your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I have recently realised that I have Fifty years left on my lease in Peterlee. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. In some cases a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Peterlee.

I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Peterlee both have approximately 50 years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Peterlee. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Peterlee where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Peterlee conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means 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 needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as 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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Peterlee from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Peterlee can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Peterlee charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Peterlee.

I acquired a basement flat in Peterlee, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar properties in Peterlee with over 90 years remaining are worth £252,000. The ground rent is £65 charged once a year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2092

With just 70 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £10,500 and £12,000 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 provide a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Peterlee