Jane (my partner) and I may need to rent out our Kempston 1st floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Kempston conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Kempston conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I only have 72 years unexpired on my flat in Kempston. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Kempston.

I own a leasehold flat in Kempston. Conveyancing and Alliance & Leicester mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Kempston who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Kempston conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Kempston both 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 Kempston is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive 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 Kempston 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 any new 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.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Kempston what are the most common lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Kempston is not unique. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations 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.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Chelsea Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Kempston Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

Its a good idea to find out as much as you can concerning the managing agents as they can either make life much simpler or a lot more difficult. As the owner of a leasehold property you are often at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to daily matters such as the tidiness of the communal areas. You should not be afraid to ask other tenants what they think of their management. On a final note, investigate as to the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the relevant party and specifically what it includes.