Helen (my wife) and I may need to sub-let our Caversham Heights 1st floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Caversham Heights conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Caversham Heights do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably withhold 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 Sixty One years left on my flat in Caversham Heights. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Caversham Heights.

I’m about to sell my basement flat in Caversham Heights.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay 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 unless 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I work for a busy estate agency in Caversham Heights where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Caversham Heights conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means 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 needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

Completion in due on our sale of a £350000 apartment in Caversham Heights next Monday . The landlords agents has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Caversham Heights?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Caversham Heights 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 conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Caversham Heights
• 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 Caversham Heights leasehold property is £350. For Caversham Heights 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 provide the information.

Caversham Heights Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the leaseholders enjoy control and even though a managing agent is often employed if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. Its a good idea to discover as much as possible about the company managing the block as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you are often in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day issues like the tidiness of the communal areas. You should not be shy to ask other tenants what they think of their service. Finally, be sure you discover the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and specifically what you get for your money.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Caversham Heights