I want to rent out my leasehold apartment in Borough Green. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Notwithstanding that your previous Borough Green conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain consent via your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I have recently realised that I have Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Borough Green. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Borough Green.

I am hoping to complete next month on a garden flat in Borough Green. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

I am attracted to a couple of apartments in Borough Green both have approximately forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Borough Green. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease shortens the value of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Borough Green. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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).

Borough Green Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Does the lease have onerous restrictions? What is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the flat? Who takes responsibility for maintaining and repairing the building?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Borough Green