Harry (my fiance) and I may need to let out our Barry ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Barry conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Barry conveyancing solicitor 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 silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without prior permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Barry. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Barry should include some of the following:

• Defining your rights in respect of common areas in the building.For example, does the lease include a right of way over a path or hallways?

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?

Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Barry please enquire of your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Barry

I’m about to sell my garden flat in Barry.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am attracted to a two apartments in Barry both have about 50 years remaining on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Barry. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

Completion in due on the sale of our £350000 apartment in Barry on Wednesday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Barry?

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

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Barry
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Barry leasehold premises is £350. For Barry 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.

Barry Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

If a Barry lease has fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the apartment. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are content with residual term of the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely need a lease extension at some point and it is worth finding out what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for 24 months in order to be eligible to extend the lease. In the main the outlay for major works tend not to be built into the maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Barry ask tenants to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major repairs or maintenance. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Barry