I am intending to rent out my leasehold flat in Bishops Cleeve. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Even though your last Bishops Cleeve conveyancing solicitor is not around you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without first obtaining permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Bishops Cleeve. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Bishops Cleeve should include some of the following:

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Bishops Cleeve. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. Strange as it may seem, 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).

I work for a reputable estate agent office in Bishops Cleeve where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Bishops Cleeve conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Bishops Cleeve what are the most frequent lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Bishops Cleeve is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could encounter 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. Accord Mortgages Ltd, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

I inherited a leasehold flat in Bishops Cleeve, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2000. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Bishops Cleeve with a long lease are worth £257,000. The ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease terminates on 21st October 2083

With 58 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £22,800 and £26,400 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Bishops Cleeve