My wife and I may need to rent out our Bollington 1st floor flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a Bollington conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Bollington conveyancing lawyer is not around you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining consent. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I am looking at a two flats in Bollington both have approximately fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Bollington is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises 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 premises 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 Bollington 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 They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new 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.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Bollington where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Bollington conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer 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 disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Bollington conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Bollington conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Bollington conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Are there frequently found problems that you witness in leases for Bollington properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Bollington is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• 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 encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Barnsley Building Society, and TSB all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I purchased a leasehold flat in Bollington, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2007. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Bollington with a long lease are worth £226,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2073

You have 52 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £36,100 and £41,800 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bollington