Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Shotton. Before I get started I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Shotton - 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 fiance and I may need to let out our Shotton ground floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Shotton conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Shotton conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain permission from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Shotton. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Shotton should include some of the following:

• Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
• You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• 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

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Shotton. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Shotton from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Shotton can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Shotton charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Shotton.
• A minority of Shotton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Shotton conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

I am the registered owner of a split level flat in Shotton, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Shotton with over 90 years remaining are worth £201,000. The ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease ends on 21st October 2099

With 73 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.