My fiance and I may need to rent out our St Anns basement flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a St Anns conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in St Anns do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

There are only 62 years unexpired on my flat in St Anns. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing St Anns.

Expecting to exchange soon on a basement flat in St Anns. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

I am employed by a busy estate agency in St Anns where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local St Anns conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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 buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

Completion in due on the sale of our £125000 maisonette in St Anns next Friday . The management company has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in St Anns?

St Anns conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not requires the buyer’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions the majority will be content to assist. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

I invested in buying a leasehold flat in St Anns, conveyancing was carried out 2007. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in St Anns with a long lease are worth £246,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2083

With 58 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £22,800 and £26,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do 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 clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in St Anns