Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Milnthorpe. Before I get started I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Milnthorpe - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I am intending to sublet my leasehold flat in Milnthorpe. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

A lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will set out if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Milnthorpe do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Milnthorpe. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. 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).

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Milnthorpe with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Milnthorpe can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Milnthorpe leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you dont have the paperwork in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.
• Some Milnthorpe leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £ 275000 apartment in Milnthorpe in six days. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Milnthorpe?

Milnthorpe conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times necessitates fees being levied by managing agents :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Milnthorpe
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Milnthorpe leasehold premises is £350. For Milnthorpe 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 required to supply the information.

I invested in buying a 1 bedroom flat in Milnthorpe, conveyancing having been completed 2012. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Milnthorpe with over 90 years remaining are worth £210,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2082

With just 56 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £26,600 and £30,800 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.