I am intending to rent out my leasehold flat in Castleton. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Even though your previous Castleton conveyancing solicitor is not around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the premises. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain permission via your landlord or some other party 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 turned down. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold house in Castleton. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Castleton who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Castleton conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured 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 am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Castleton both have approximately forty five years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Castleton. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly 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 lenders may be unwilling to lend money 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 arena

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Castleton. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to 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. Strange as it may seem, 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).

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Castleton where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Castleton conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.

Castleton Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge payments? Be sure to enquire if the the lease contains any onerous restrictions in the lease. For example it is very common in Castleton leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Castleton. If you love the propertyin Castleton but your dog can’t make the move with you then you have a very difficult choice. Who are the managing agents?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Castleton