My husband and I may need to rent out our Canford Cliffs garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Canford Cliffs conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Canford Cliffs conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek consent via your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The 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 for their consent.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years left on my flat in Canford Cliffs. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. For most situations a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Canford Cliffs.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Canford Cliffs both have about forty five years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Canford Cliffs. 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 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. A critical element 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 am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Canford Cliffs where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Canford Cliffs conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start 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 commence 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 sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

Canford Cliffs Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Can you inform me if there are any major works on the horizon that will add a premium to the service charges? Is there a share of the freehold?