Frank (my husband) and I may need to sub-let our Falmouth garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Falmouth conveyancing firm in 2004 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?

Even though your last Falmouth conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek consent from your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold house in Falmouth. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Falmouth who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Falmouth conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Falmouth. 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 ensure 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Falmouth with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Falmouth can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Some Falmouth leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and delays many a Falmouth home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

What makes a Falmouth lease problematic?

Leasehold conveyancing in Falmouth is not unique. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• 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

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Aldermore 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 defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Falmouth Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before buying

Plenty Falmouth leasehold flats will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the freeholder. If you purchase the property you will have to meet this liability, normally quarterly accross the year. This could differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a significant amount, say about £50-£100 but you should to enquire as sometimes it could be surprisingly expensive.