Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Holmrook garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Holmrook conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

A lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, 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 specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Holmrook do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I only have Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Holmrook. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Holmrook.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Holmrook which have about forty five years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Holmrook is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the property. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Holmrook conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Holmrook. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Holmrook from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Holmrook can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Holmrook leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. If you dont have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.

Holmrook Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

If a Holmrook lease has no more than 80 years it will impact the salability of the property. It is worth checking with your lender that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would be required to have been the owner of the residence for a couple of years before you are entitled to exercise a lease extension. It would be prudent to find out if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For instance it is very common in Holmrook leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in Holmrook. If you like the flatin Holmrook however your dog can’t move with you then you have a very difficult decision. The answer will be useful as a) areas may result in problems in the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate where services are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the running of the building you will need to have full disclosure

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Holmrook