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

A small minority of properties in Adamsdown do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Adamsdown. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. 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 am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Adamsdown where we see a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Adamsdown conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Adamsdown with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Adamsdown can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Adamsdown levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Adamsdown.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Adamsdown leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you dont have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.

A minority of Adamsdown leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 lawyers.

If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £400000 apartment in Adamsdown in just under a week. The management company has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Adamsdown?

Adamsdown conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually results in administration charges raised by management companies :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Adamsdown
• 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 Adamsdown leasehold premises is £350. For Adamsdown 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 answers.

I bought a leasehold flat in Adamsdown, conveyancing was carried out in 2006. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Adamsdown with over 90 years remaining are worth £258,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2074

You have 54 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £29,500 and £34,000 as well as professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Adamsdown