I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Ringmer. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Ringmer - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Ringmer garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Ringmer conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Ringmer conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without prior permission. The consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Ringmer. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?

Does the lease prevent you from subletting the property, or having a home office for business

You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

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 Ringmer please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Ringmer

I've found a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Ringmer. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Ringmer ?

The majority of houses in Ringmer are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Ringmer so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Ringmer conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor should advise you fully on all the issues.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £425000 garden flat in Ringmer next Monday . The managing agents has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Ringmer?

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

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Ringmer
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Ringmer leasehold property is £350. For Ringmer 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 required to provide the information.

I purchased a 1 bedroom flat in Ringmer, conveyancing formalities finalised in 1996. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable properties in Ringmer with a long lease are worth £188,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease expires on 21st October 2083

With just 58 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £23,800 and £27,400 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. 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. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Ringmer