I am intending to sublet my leasehold flat in Handforth. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Notwithstanding that your last Handforth conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain permission from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without first obtaining permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Handforth. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Handforth.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Handforth both have approximately forty five years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Handforth. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Handforth where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Handforth conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 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 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.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Handforth what are the most frequent lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Handforth is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Handforth Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

It would be a good idea to discover if the the lease includes any adverse restrictions in the lease. For example it is fairly common in Handforth leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Handforth. If you love the propertyin Handforth yet your dog can’t move with you then you have a very hard compromise. Many Handforth leasehold flats will incur a service bill for maintenance of the block invoiced on behalf of the management company. If you buy the flat you will have to meet this contribution, usually in instalments accross the year. This could differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent to be met annual, normally this is not a significant sum, say around £25-£75 but you need to check it because occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds. How much is the service charge and ground rent on the property?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Handforth