My fiance and I may need to rent out our Towyn ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Towyn conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

A lease governs relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, 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 Towyn do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the sublease.

There are only Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Towyn. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Towyn.

I've found a house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have since discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Towyn. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Towyn ?

The majority of houses in Towyn are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Towyn so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Towyn conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the landlord’spermission to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should advise you fully on all the issues.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Towyn conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Towyn conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non Towyn conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How many lease extensions have they conducted in Towyn in the last 12 months?
• What are the costs for lease extension work?

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Towyn what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Towyn. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and TSB all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

I inherited a 2 bed flat in Towyn, conveyancing was carried out 1997. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar properties in Towyn with over 90 years remaining are worth £259,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2084

With only 58 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £23,800 and £27,400 as well as costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.