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

Even though your previous Cardigan conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I’m about to sell my ground floor flat in Cardigan.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the service charge 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Cardigan both have approximately forty five years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Cardigan from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cardigan can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Cardigan charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Cardigan.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Cardigan leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
• A minority of Cardigan leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate is often a time consuming formality and slows down many a Cardigan home move. Where a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £ 150000 apartment in Cardigan on Wednesday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Cardigan?

Cardigan conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically results in administration charges raised by management companies :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Cardigan
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Cardigan leasehold premises is £350. For Cardigan 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 provide the information.

Cardigan Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

Does the lease contain onerous restrictions?