Jane (my partner) and I may need to rent out our Grange Over Sands garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Grange Over Sands conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

The lease governs relations between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Grange Over Sands do not prevent subletting altogether – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Grange Over Sands. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Grange Over Sands should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

I today plan to offer on a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Grange Over Sands. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Grange Over Sands are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Grange Over Sands in which case you should be shopping around for a Grange Over Sands conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the landlord’spermission to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will appraise you on the various issues.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Grange Over Sands. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, 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).

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Grange Over Sands where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Grange Over Sands conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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 sale.

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 buyer.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Grange Over Sands - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

Best to be warned if fixing the lift or some other significant cost is coming up to be shared by the leasehold owners and could well materially impact the level of the maintenance costs or result in a one time payment. The majority of Grange Over Sands leasehold apartments will have a service charge for the upkeep of the block set by the freeholder. Where you acquire the property you will have to meet this liability, usually periodically throughout the year. This could differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal grounds. In all probability there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, ordinarily this is not a significant sum, say around £50-£100 but you need to enquire it because sometimes it could be prohibitively expensive. What is the the remaining lease term?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Grange Over Sands