I am intending to rent out my leasehold flat in Liskeard. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Even though your previous Liskeard conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to obtain consent from your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior permission. The consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

There are only 72 years unexpired on my flat in Liskeard. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

If 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. In some cases a specialist should be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Liskeard.

I have just started marketing my basement flat in Liskeard.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold flat in Liskeard. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Liskeard who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Liskeard conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Liskeard conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Liskeard conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you speak with several firms including non Liskeard conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?

Liskeard Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

Does this lease have in excess of 85 years remaining? Are there any major works on the horizon that will increase the service costs? The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this situation the leaseholders benefit from being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is often employed where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.

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Lease Extensions in Liskeard