I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Great Barford. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Great Barford - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

My partner and I may need to rent out our Great Barford 1st floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Great Barford conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Great Barford conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to obtain consent via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Great Barford where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Great Barford conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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 buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Great Barford conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Great Barford conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Great Barford conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Great Barford what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Great Barford. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Britannia 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 does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Great Barford Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

Please note that where the lease has fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the property. Check with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Great Barfordlease extensions you will be be obliged to have owned the property for two years in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension. It is important to be aware if window replacement or some other major work is anticipated to be shared by the tenants and will dramatically impact the level of the maintenance fees or result in a one off invoice. Its a good idea to discover as much as possible about the managing agents as they can either make your life much simpler or uncomfortable. As the owner of a leasehold property you are often in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical issues like the upkeep of the common parts. Ask prospective neighbours whether they are happy with them. Finally, be sure you discover the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the relevant party and specifically what it includes.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Great Barford