I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Rayleigh. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Rayleigh - 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 wife and I may need to rent out our Rayleigh garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Rayleigh conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Rayleigh conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you must obtain consent from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior permission. The consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my flat in Rayleigh. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Rayleigh.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Rayleigh from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Rayleigh can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Rayleigh levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Rayleigh.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Rayleigh leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy process and delays many a Rayleigh home move. If a reissued share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 450000 garden flat in Rayleigh next week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Rayleigh?

For most leasehold sales in Rayleigh conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Rayleigh
• 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 Rayleigh leasehold premises is £350. For Rayleigh 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 provide the information.

Rayleigh Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

It would be sensible to investigate if the the lease includes any onerous restrictions in the lease. For instance it is fairly common in Rayleigh leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Rayleigh. If you love the apartmentin Rayleigh however your dog can’t live with you then you will be faced difficult choice.