I wish to let out my leasehold flat in Harlech. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your previous Harlech conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you need to seek consent from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without prior permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Harlech where we see a few flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Harlech conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Harlech with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Harlech can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Harlech charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Harlech.

Some Harlech leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy formality and slows down many a Harlech home move. Where a duplicate share is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

Completion in due on the sale of our £425000 garden flat in Harlech in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Harlech?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Harlech 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 Harlech
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Harlech leasehold premises is £350. For Harlech 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.

Are there common defects that you see in leases for Harlech properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Harlech. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Barnsley Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have express conveyancing instructions 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 pull out.

Harlech Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

How much is the ground rent and service charge? You should want to discover as much as possible about the managing agents as they will either make living at the property much simpler or uncomfortable. Being a leasehold owner you are often at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day issues like the tidiness of the common parts. Ask other tenants whether they are happy with their service. On a final note, find out the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the appropriate party and precisely what it includes. Generally speaking the outlay for major works tend not to be built into the maintenance charges, although a few managing agents in Harlech obliged leaseholders to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for major repairs or maintenance.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Harlech