Helen (my wife) and I may need to let out our Whitchurch 1st floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Whitchurch conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Whitchurch conveyancing lawyer is not available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I only have Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Whitchurch. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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 Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent would be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Whitchurch.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Whitchurch both have in the region of fifty years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Whitchurch is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the value of the property. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Whitchurch conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Whitchurch conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Whitchurch conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Whitchurch conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 475000 apartment in Whitchurch in seven days. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Whitchurch?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Whitchurch conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Whitchurch
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Whitchurch leasehold premises is £350. For Whitchurch conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to supply the information.

I bought a 1 bedroom flat in Whitchurch, conveyancing formalities finalised 4 years ago. 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? Corresponding flats in Whitchurch with an extended lease are worth £177,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease ceases on 21st October 2087

With only 61 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £20,000 and £23,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures 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. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.