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

Notwithstanding that your previous Llanarth conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must obtain consent from your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

There are only Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Llanarth. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, 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 Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. On the whole a specialist may be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court 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 Llanarth.

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Llanarth.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the invoice 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.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Llanarth where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Llanarth conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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.

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.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Llanarth what are the most common lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Llanarth. All leases is drafted differently 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:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• 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 primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Aldermore all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Llanarth Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Its a good idea to discover as much as possible regarding the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you will be at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day matters like the upkeep of the communal areas. Enquire of prospective neighbours what they think of them. In conclusion, investigate as to the dates that the maintenance fees are due to the relevant party and specifically what it includes. Who is in charge of the block? Many Llanarth leasehold flats will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the building levied on behalf of the freeholder. Where you acquire the apartment you will have to meet this liability, usually quarterly during the year. This may differ from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. In all probability there will be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a significant sum, say about £50-£100 but you should to enquire it because on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Llanarth