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

Even though your previous Kingsbridge conveyancing solicitor is not around you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without prior permission. Such consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I am hoping to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Kingsbridge. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Kingsbridge. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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 be sure 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).

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Kingsbridge where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Kingsbridge conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

Are there common deficiencies that you encounter in leases for Kingsbridge properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Kingsbridge. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• 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 will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. National Westminster Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I inherited a 1 bedroom flat in Kingsbridge, conveyancing was carried out in 2010. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Kingsbridge with over 90 years remaining are worth £226,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease expires on 21st October 2084

You have 61 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £20,000 and £23,000 plus costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Kingsbridge