My fiance and I may need to rent out our Bookham garden flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Bookham conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Bookham conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without prior permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Bookham.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Bookham. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Bookham who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Bookham conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Bookham. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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 be sure 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).

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

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Bookham. All leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will 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. Yorkshire Building Society, Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Bookham Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Who is in charge of the block? You should want to find out as much as you can about the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are often in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to day to day matters such as the tidiness of the communal areas. Ask other people if they are happy with them. Finally, investigate as to the dates that the service charges are due to the relevant party and precisely how they are spending that money. The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the tenants benefit from being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is usually retained where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bookham