I am intending to sublet my leasehold apartment in Thornbury. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

A small minority of properties in Thornbury do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates 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 permission.

There are only 68 years remaining on my flat in Thornbury. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Thornbury.

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Thornbury where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Thornbury conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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. The benefit of this is 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 has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Thornbury with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Thornbury can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Thornbury state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £125000 apartment in Thornbury next week. The managing agents has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Thornbury?

Thornbury conveyancing on leasehold flats normally necessitates the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries most will be content to assist. They are at liberty levy a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it exceeds £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

I bought a ground floor flat in Thornbury, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2006. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding properties in Thornbury with a long lease are worth £178,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2093

With only 72 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £12,400 and £14,200 as well as 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 investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Thornbury