I want to sublet my leasehold apartment in Trefnant. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your last Trefnant conveyancing lawyer is not available you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without prior permission. Such consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Trefnant. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I work for a reputable estate agency in Trefnant where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Trefnant conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 Trefnant from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Trefnant can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed 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? Most leases in Trefnant state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you dont have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.
• Some Trefnant leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Trefnant home move. If a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 325000 apartment in Trefnant on Monday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Trefnant?

Trefnant conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually necessitates the purchaser’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They may invoice a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is above £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

I inherited a leasehold flat in Trefnant, conveyancing was carried out in 1995. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Trefnant with over 90 years remaining are worth £192,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease expires on 21st October 2102

You have 76 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £10,500 and £12,000 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 are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.