I would like to let out my leasehold apartment in Great Missenden. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Even though your previous Great Missenden conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek permission via your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I have recently realised that I have Seventy years remaining on my flat in Great Missenden. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

If 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Great Missenden.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Great Missenden. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Great Missenden with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Great Missenden can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Great Missenden levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Great Missenden.

If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Great Missenden state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you fail to have the paperwork in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer in advance.

If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase 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 prior to 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 clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Great Missenden conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £300000 garden flat in Great Missenden in six days. The management company has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Great Missenden?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Great Missenden conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Great Missenden
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Great Missenden leasehold premises is £350. For Great Missenden conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are obliged to supply answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Great Missenden - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? How is the lease structured? Where a Great Missenden lease has less than 80 years it will affect the marketability of the property. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely require a lease extension at some point and it is worth finding out how much this would cost. For most Great Missendenlease extensions you will be required to have owned the property for two years before you are legally able to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Great Missenden