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

Even though your previous Battlesbridge conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must obtain permission from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining permission. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

There are only Sixty One years left on my flat in Battlesbridge. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Battlesbridge.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Battlesbridge where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Battlesbridge conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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 purchaser.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Battlesbridge from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Battlesbridge can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Battlesbridge charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Battlesbridge.

What makes a Battlesbridge lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Battlesbridge. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain sections are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• 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 have 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. Lloyds TSB Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Battlesbridge Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

The answer will be helpful as a) areas may result in problems for the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate where maintenance are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will wish to have complete disclosure Its a good idea to discover as much as possible about the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to daily matters like the upkeep of the common parts. Ask prospective neighbours what they think of their management. Finally, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the appropriate party and precisely what you get for your money. Where a Battlesbridge lease has no more than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the premises for two years in order to be legally able to exercise a lease extension.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Battlesbridge