My fiance and I may need to rent out our Bearsted ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Bearsted conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

A lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Bearsted do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Bearsted. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Bearsted who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Bearsted conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Bearsted both have in the region of 50 years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Bearsted is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. For most purchasers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Bearsted conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Bearsted. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before 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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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 employed by a reputable estate agency in Bearsted where we see a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Bearsted conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process 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. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Bearsted - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Make sure you find out if the the lease contains any onerous restrictions in the lease. For example it is reasonably common in Bearsted leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in Bearsted. If you like the apartmentin Bearsted but your cat is not allowed to move with you then you will be presented with a hard decision. You should want to discover as much as possible regarding the company managing the block as they will either make your living at the property much easier or a lot more difficult. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you will be at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day matters like the cleanliness of the common parts. Don't be afraid to ask prospective neighbours if they are happy with them. On a final note, be sure you know the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the relevant party and specifically how they are spending that money. The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the tenants have control and although a managing agent is frequently retained if it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bearsted