My husband and I may need to sub-let our Littleborough 1st floor flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Littleborough conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

The lease governs relations between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is not allowed, 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. Most leases in Littleborough do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the sublease.

I have recently realised that I have 62 years remaining on my flat in Littleborough. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Littleborough.

I have just appointed agents to market my garden apartment in Littleborough.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is pay 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 management companies 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.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Littleborough where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Littleborough conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with 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 purchaser.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Littleborough what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Littleborough. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• 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 a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, Leeds Building Society, and Bank of Ireland all have express conveyancing instructions 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 provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Littleborough Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

This information is important as a) areas may result in problems in the building as the communal areas may start to deteriorate if services remain unpaid b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the managing agents you will need to have full disclosure