Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Chalfont St Giles garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Chalfont St Giles conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will set out if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Chalfont St Giles do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

Due to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Chalfont St Giles. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Chalfont St Giles should include some of the following:

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Chalfont St Giles. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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 be sure 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).

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Chalfont St Giles conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Chalfont St Giles conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you talk with several firms including non Chalfont St Giles conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

What makes a Chalfont St Giles lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Chalfont St Giles is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Coventry Building Society, and Aldermore all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Chalfont St Giles Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge payments? Most Chalfont St Giles leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the building invoiced by the freeholder. If you buy the flat you will have to pay this amount, normally quarterly during the year. This can differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, normally this is not a significant sum, say around £50-£100 but you should to enquire as occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive. This question is important as a) areas may cause problems for the block as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will wish to know about it

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Chalfont St Giles