My fiance and I may need to rent out our Cotswolds garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Cotswolds conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Cotswolds do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests 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.

I have recently realised that I have Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Cotswolds. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Cotswolds.

I have just started marketing my ground floor flat in Cotswolds.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

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

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Cotswolds where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Cotswolds conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer 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 simultaneously with 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Cotswolds conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Cotswolds conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Cotswolds conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?

Cotswolds Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Plenty Cotswolds leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the block invoiced on behalf of the management company. Where you acquire the flat you will have to pay this liability, usually periodically during the year. This may be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, ordinarily this is not a large figure, say around £50-£100 but you need to check as on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. Its a good idea to find out as much as you can about the managing agents as they can either make living at the property much simpler or a lot more difficult. As the owner of a leasehold property you will be at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day matters like the cleanliness of the communal areas. Enquire of prospective neighbours if they are happy with them. In conclusion, investigate as to the dates that the maintenance fees are due to the relevant party and specifically what it includes. Where a Cotswolds lease has less than 80 years it will affect the marketability of the property. Check with your lender that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the property for two years before you are legally able to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Cotswolds