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

The lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will set out if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Denton do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the property. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to be perfect, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have since discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Denton. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Denton ?

Most houses in Denton are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Denton so you should seriously consider looking for a Denton conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your solicitor should appraise you on the various issues.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Denton with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Denton can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Denton levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Denton.

Some Denton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £375000 apartment in Denton next Tuesday . The managing agents has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Denton?

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

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Denton
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Denton leasehold property is £350. For Denton 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 required to supply the information.

What makes a Denton lease problematic?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Denton. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Denton Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be included within service charges, albeit that some managing agents in Denton require leaseholders to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. Is anyone aware of any major works in the planning that could add a premium to the maintenance costs? Most Denton leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for maintenance of the block levied by the freeholder. Should you buy the apartment you will have to meet this charge, normally in instalments throughout the year. This can vary from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant sum, say around £25-£75 but you need to check it because on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Denton