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

A small minority of properties in Eaglescliffe 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 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.

I have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my flat in Eaglescliffe. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. On the whole a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Eaglescliffe.

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

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Eaglescliffe conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Eaglescliffe conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Eaglescliffe who can give a testimonial?

What are the costs for lease extension work?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Eaglescliffe from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Eaglescliffe can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Eaglescliffe state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you dont have the paperwork in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.

Some Eaglescliffe leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying 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 there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 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 premises on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £425000 flat in Eaglescliffe on Thursday in a week. The management company has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Eaglescliffe?

Eaglescliffe conveyancing on leasehold apartments typically involves administration charges levied by landlords agents :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Eaglescliffe
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Eaglescliffe leasehold premises is £350. For Eaglescliffe 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 supply answers.

Eaglescliffe Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

What is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the flat? It would be prudent to discover as much as you can concerning the company managing the block as they can either make life much simpler or problematic. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day matters such as the tidiness of the communal areas. Ask prospective neighbours whether they are happy with them. Finally, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the managing agents and specifically what it includes. If a Eaglescliffe lease has fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are content with the length of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this will be. For most Eaglescliffelease extensions you will be be obliged to have been the owner of the premises for 24 months in order to be entitled to carry out a lease extension.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Eaglescliffe