Helen (my wife) and I may need to let out our Langland garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Langland conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say 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 Langland do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years remaining on my flat in Langland. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Langland.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Langland where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Langland conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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 sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Langland conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Langland conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Langland conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

Can they put you in touch with client in Langland who can give a testimonial?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £175000 garden flat in Langland next Friday . The freeholder has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Langland?

For most leasehold sales in Langland conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Langland
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Langland leasehold premises is £350. For Langland 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 provide answers.

Langland Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Please note that where the lease has fewer than 80 years it will impact the marketability of the flat. Check with your bank that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this will be. For most Langlandlease extensions you would be required to have been the owner of the residence for 24 months before you are legally able to exercise a lease extension. You will want to find out as much as you can about the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you are often in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to daily matters such as the upkeep of the communal areas. Enquire of other tenants what they think of them. In conclusion, investigate as to the dates that the service fees are due to the relevant party and specifically what you get for your money. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Langland