My wife and I may need to rent out our Friday Hill garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Friday Hill conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance 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 indicate if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Friday Hill do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years left on my flat in Friday Hill. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. In some cases a specialist would be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Friday Hill.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Friday Hill both have approximately 50 years left on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Friday Hill is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the salability of the property. For most purchasers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Friday Hill conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Friday Hill conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Friday Hill conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Friday Hill conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £250000 garden flat in Friday Hill in just under a week. The management company has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Friday Hill?

Friday Hill conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates the purchaser’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be content to do so. They may levy a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Friday Hill - A selection of Queries before buying

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? Is the freehold reversion owned collectively by the tenants? Make sure you find out if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. By way of example some leases prohibit pets being permitted in in a block in Friday Hill. If you like the propertyin Friday Hill but your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be faced hard decision.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Friday Hill