I want to sublet my leasehold flat in Hessle. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

The lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Hessle do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the sublease.

I have recently realised that I have Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Hessle. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If 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 magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Hessle.

Expecting to complete next month on a garden flat in Hessle. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Hessle should include some of the following:

• Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to the communal areas in the building.For instance, does the lease provide for a right of way over a path or hallways?

I have just appointed agents to market my garden apartment in Hessle.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Hessle where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Hessle conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 proposed purchaser need not have to wait 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 at the same time as 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 purchaser.

Hessle Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should ask before buying

It would be wise to discover as much as you can regarding the managing agents as they can either make living at the property much easier or a lot more difficult. Being a leasehold owner you are often in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day issues like the tidiness of the common parts. Enquire of other people what they think of them. In conclusion, be sure you discover the dates that the service fees are due to the appropriate party and precisely what you get for your money. Please note that where the lease has no more than eighty years it will affect the value of the apartment. Check with your bank that they are content with remaining years on the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably need a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this would cost. For most Hesslelease extensions you will need to own the property for two years before you are entitled to extend the lease. The best form of lease arrangement is where the freehold reversion is owned by the leaseholders. In this situation the leaseholders have control and even though a managing agent is usually retained where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Hessle