Frank (my husband) and I may need to sub-let our Ditchling ground floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Ditchling conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; specifically, it will set out if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Ditchling do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

Back In 2005, I bought a leasehold flat in Ditchling. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Ditchling who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Ditchling conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Ditchling where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Ditchling conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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 can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, 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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Ditchling with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ditchling can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• Some Ditchling leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a Ditchling home move. If a new share certificate is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is below 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

What are the frequently found problems that you witness in leases for Ditchling properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Ditchling. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements 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 have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Skipton Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Ditchling Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

It is important to be aware if a new roof is being put on or some other major work is due in the foreseeable future that will be shared by the tenants and will materially impact the level of the maintenance costs or result in a specific invoice. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability?