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Top Five Questions relating to Histon leasehold conveyancing

My wife and I may need to sub-let our Histon 1st floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Histon conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Histon conveyancing solicitor is not around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to obtain permission via your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior consent. The consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

There are only Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Histon. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Histon.

I am hoping to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Histon. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Histon should include some of the following:

  • Setting out your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease contain a right of way over a path or staircase?
  • Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
  • Does the lease prevent you from letting out the flat, or having a home office for business
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
  • An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
  • You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
  • What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Histon please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Histon

    • I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Histon which have approximately 50 years unexpired on the leases. should I be concerned?

    There are plenty of short leases in Histon. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

    Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Histon from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Histon can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
    • The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Histon 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 on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Histon.
  • In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Histon state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.
  • Some Histon leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Histon Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

      It would be wise to discover as much as possible about the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to daily issues such as the upkeep of the common parts. Enquire of prospective neighbours whether they are happy with them. In conclusion, be sure you discover the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the managing agents and specifically what it includes. Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the leaseholders? It would be prudent to enquire if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For example it is very common in Histon leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Histon. If you like the propertyin Histon but your dog is not allowed to make the move with you then you have a very difficult decision.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Histon