My husband and I may need to rent out our Bideford basement flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Bideford conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Bideford conveyancing lawyer is not available you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain consent via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior permission. Such consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. 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 Bideford. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Bideford are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Bideford in which case you should be looking for a Bideford conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your solicitor should report to you on the legal implications.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Bideford which have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Bideford with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bideford can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Bideford leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. If you dont have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.

If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and 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 prior to 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 better to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.

If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Bideford conveyancing deal. If a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

We expect to complete our sale of a £350000 maisonette in Bideford next week. The freeholder has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Bideford?

Bideford conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally results in administration charges levied by freeholders :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Bideford
• 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 Bideford leasehold premises is £350. For Bideford 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 answers.

Bideford Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

It would be prudent to enquire if the the lease includes any onerous restrictions in the lease. For example it is fairly common in Bideford leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Bideford. If you like the flatin Bideford however your dog is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be faced hard choice. On the whole the outlay for major works tend not to be included within service charges, although there some managing agents in Bideford ask leaseholders to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major works. You should be aware that where the lease has fewer than eighty years it will impact the value of the property. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. For most Bidefordlease extensions you would be required to have been the owner of the residence for 24 months in order to be entitled to carry out a lease extension.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bideford