I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Caerwent. Before I get started I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Caerwent - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I want to sublet my leasehold flat in Caerwent. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Some leases for properties in Caerwent do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years remaining on my lease in Caerwent. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order 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 made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Caerwent.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Caerwent from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Caerwent can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Caerwent state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. If you fail to have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.

A minority of Caerwent leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £450000 garden flat in Caerwent next Tuesday . The managing agents has quoted £360 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 Caerwent?

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

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Caerwent
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Caerwent leasehold property is £350. For Caerwent 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 answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Caerwent - Examples of Questions you should consider before buying

Many Caerwent leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the block invoiced on behalf of the management company. Where you buy the property you will have to meet this amount, normally quarterly throughout the year. This can be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all probability there will be a ground rent to be met yearly, ordinarily this is not a large sum, say about £50-£100 but you should to check as sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds. Best to be warned if window replacement or some other major work is pending that will be shared by the leasehold owners and could well materially increase the the maintenance charges or require a one off invoice. For many Caerwent leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be incorporated into the service charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Caerwent obliged tenants to contribute towards a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger works.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Caerwent