My wife and I may need to rent out our Cathays basement flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a Cathays conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your last Cathays conveyancing solicitor is not around you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain consent via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without first obtaining permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years left on my flat in Cathays. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Cathays.

Looking forward to complete next month on a leasehold property in Cathays. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Cathays should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?

You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Cathays please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Cathays

I've found a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Cathays. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Cathays are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Cathays in which case you should be looking for a Cathays conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the freeholder’spermission to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer will report to you on the legal implications.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £275000 maisonette in Cathays in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Cathays?

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

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Cathays
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Cathays leasehold premises is £350. For Cathays 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 obliged to supply answers.

Cathays Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

Please note if it is less than eighty years it will affect the marketability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Cathayslease extensions you would need to own the residence for 24 months before you are entitled to exercise a lease extension. Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the tenants? In the main the cost for major works tend not to be included within service charges, although some managing agents in Cathays require leasehold owners to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major works.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Cathays