Frank (my husband) and I may need to sub-let our Houghton Le Spring garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Houghton Le Spring conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

The lease governs relations between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is prohibited, 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 Houghton Le Spring do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I work for a reputable estate agency in Houghton Le Spring where we see a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Houghton Le Spring conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 Houghton Le Spring with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Houghton Le Spring can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Houghton Le Spring charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Houghton Le Spring.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Houghton Le Spring leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.

If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to 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 rather than ongoing.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the sale of our £475000 flat in Houghton Le Spring next week. The landlords agents has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Houghton Le Spring?

Houghton Le Spring conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times involves fees being levied by landlords agents :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Houghton Le Spring
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 Houghton Le Spring leasehold premises is £350. For Houghton Le Spring 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.

What are the frequently found problems that you come across in leases for Houghton Le Spring properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Houghton Le Spring is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair 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.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

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. Nationwide Building Society, Virgin Money, and Clydesdale all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Houghton Le Spring Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

What is the service charge and ground rent on the flat? How is the lease structured? Plenty Houghton Le Spring leasehold properties will incur a service charge for maintenance of the block set by the landlord. Should you buy the property you will have to meet this charge, normally periodically throughout the year. This can be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, this is usually not a large figure, say around £25-£75 but you should to check it because sometimes it can be surprisingly expensive.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Houghton Le Spring