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

Even though your last Trefnant conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must seek permission from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without prior permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I today plan to offer on a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Trefnant. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Trefnant are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Trefnant so you should seriously consider looking for a Trefnant conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example obtaining the landlord’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor should appraise you on the various issues.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Trefnant. Do I have any liability for 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 owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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 busy estate agent office in Trefnant where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Trefnant conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is 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 needs to be completed 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 purchaser.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Trefnant from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Trefnant can be reduced where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Trefnant leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. If you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.

I own a 1 bedroom flat in Trefnant, conveyancing formalities finalised 7 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar flats in Trefnant with over 90 years remaining are worth £208,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease terminates on 21st October 2105

With 80 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 plus costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Trefnant