My husband and I may need to rent out our Aylesbury ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Aylesbury conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Aylesbury 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 suggests 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 permission.

I've found a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have since been informed that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Aylesbury. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Aylesbury are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Aylesbury in which case you should be looking for a Aylesbury conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your lawyer should appraise you on the various issues.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Aylesbury with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Aylesbury can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Aylesbury charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Aylesbury.

A minority of Aylesbury leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £125000 apartment in Aylesbury in 8 days. The managing agents has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Aylesbury?

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

• Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Aylesbury
• 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 conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Aylesbury leasehold premises is £350. For Aylesbury 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 provide the information.

Are there frequently found problems that you witness in leases for Aylesbury properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Aylesbury. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Bank of Scotland, and TSB all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Aylesbury Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before buying

What is the the remaining lease term? Most Aylesbury leasehold flats will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the building invoiced by the management company. If you purchase the flat you will have to meet this contribution, usually quarterly during the year. This may vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, this is usually not a large figure, say about £25-£75 but you need to check as sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds. Best to be warned whether window replacement or some other major work is coming up to be shared by the leaseholders and will materially increase the the maintenance charges or result in a specific payment.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Aylesbury