Halewood leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s
Harry (my fiance) and I may need to rent out our Halewood ground floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Halewood conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?
Notwithstanding that your last Halewood conveyancing lawyer is not available you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek permission via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.
Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years unexpired on my lease in Halewood. I now want 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 submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Halewood.
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Halewood where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Halewood conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser 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 has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
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 purchaser.
What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Halewood conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?
When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Halewood conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Halewood conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:
- How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?
Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £175000 maisonette in Halewood next Thursday . The management company has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Halewood?
For most leasehold sales in Halewood conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :
- Completing pre-contract enquiries
- Where consent is required before sale in Halewood
- Supplying insurance information
- Deeds of covenant upon sale
- Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
I purchased a 1 bedroom flat in Halewood, conveyancing having been completed in 2001. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Halewood with a long lease are worth £192,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2099
With just 74 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £10,500 and £12,000 plus costs.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
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