I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Arlesey. Before diving in I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Arlesey - 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.

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to let out our Arlesey basement flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Arlesey conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Arlesey do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. 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 am attracted to a couple of apartments in Arlesey which have approximately fifty years remaining on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Arlesey where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Arlesey conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, 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.

We expect to complete our sale of a £250000 flat in Arlesey in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Arlesey?

Arlesey conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally requires the purchaser’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled levy a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

Arlesey Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Is the freehold owned collectively by the leaseholders? Best to be warned if window replacement or some other major work is due in the foreseeable future that will be shared by the tenants and may well materially impact the level of the maintenance costs or necessitate a specific payment. This information is important as a) areas may cause problems in the building as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will need to have full disclosure

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Arlesey