Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Flitwick:

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Flitwick leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

My wife and I may need to rent out our Flitwick 1st floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Flitwick conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will set out if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Flitwick do not prevent subletting altogether – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Flitwick. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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 Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Flitwick.

Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold flat in Flitwick. Conveyancing and Britannia mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Flitwick who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Flitwick conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Flitwick where we see a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Flitwick conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 buyer.

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

  • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Flitwick can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
  • The majority freeholders or managing agents in Flitwick levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. 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 reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Flitwick.
  • A minority of Flitwick leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
  • If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Flitwick conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share certificate is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

    • Leasehold Conveyancing in Flitwick - A selection of Queries before buying

      What is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the property? Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments? Does the lease have onerous restrictions?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Flitwick