I would like to rent out my leasehold apartment in St Asaph. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Some leases for properties in St Asaph do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Looking forward to complete next month on a ground floor flat in St Asaph. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark

Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

Are pets allowed in the flat?

You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Repair and maintenance of the flat For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in St Asaph please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in St Asaph

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in St Asaph where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local St Asaph conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to 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 sit tight for 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 at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in St Asaph with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Asaph 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 purchasers’ lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? St Asaph leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you dont have the consents in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.

A minority of St Asaph leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a St Asaph conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £250000 flat in St Asaph in 10 days. The management company has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in St Asaph?

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

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in St Asaph
• 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 St Asaph leasehold property is £350. For St Asaph 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 answers.

I inherited a 1 bedroom flat in St Asaph, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar properties in St Asaph with over 90 years remaining are worth £240,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2105

With just 79 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in St Asaph