My husband and I may need to sub-let our Sandy garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Sandy conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Sandy conveyancing solicitor is not around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining 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.

There are only 62 years remaining on my lease in Sandy. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

If you qualify, 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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Sandy.

Expecting to complete next month on a basement flat in Sandy. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

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

Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease include a right of way over an accessway or hallways?

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change

Repair and maintenance of the flat

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Sandy please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Sandy

I work for a reputable estate agency in Sandy where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Sandy conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process 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. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

We expect to complete our sale of a £325000 flat in Sandy on Tuesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Sandy?

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

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Sandy
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Sandy leasehold premises is £350. For Sandy 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.

I acquired a 1 bedroom flat in Sandy, conveyancing was carried out 6 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Sandy with over 90 years remaining are worth £260,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2097

With just 72 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £14,300 and £16,400 plus legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Sandy