Helen (my wife) and I may need to sub-let our Torrington basement flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Torrington conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your last Torrington conveyancing solicitor is not around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Looking forward to complete next month on a studio apartment in Torrington. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Are pets allowed in the flat?
• Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or working from home
• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Torrington where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Torrington conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer 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.

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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Torrington with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Torrington can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Torrington leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. If you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
• Some Torrington leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and pay 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Torrington conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 425000 garden flat in Torrington next week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Torrington?

Torrington conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes more often than not necessitates the buyer’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They are at liberty invoice 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 £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I own a basement flat in Torrington, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Torrington with a long lease are worth £258,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2080

You have 54 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £28,500 and £33,000 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.