I wish to let out my leasehold flat in Billingham. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

The lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will set out if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Billingham do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I have recently realised that I have 68 years unexpired on my flat in Billingham. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Billingham.

Expecting to complete next month on a leasehold property in Billingham. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to the communal areas in the building.For instance, does the lease provide for a right of way over an accessway or staircase?

Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?

You should be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change

Repair and maintenance of the flat

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Billingham please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Billingham

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Billingham. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. It is an essential part 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).

All being well we will complete our sale of a £200000 apartment in Billingham in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £372 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Billingham?

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

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Billingham
• 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 Billingham leasehold premises is £350. For Billingham 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 supply the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Billingham - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability? In the main the outlay for major works are not wrapped into the maintenance charges, although there some managing agents in Billingham obliged leasehold owners to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for major works. The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the lessees enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually retained where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Billingham