I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Llanbradach. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Llanbradach - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

My husband and I may need to let out our Llanbradach ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Llanbradach conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; specifically, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Llanbradach do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the property. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Llanbradach. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Llanbradach.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Llanbradach where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Llanbradach conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. 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 purchaser.

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a Llanbradach conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Llanbradach conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Llanbradach conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?

Llanbradach Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should ask before buying

Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? Who are the managing agents? You should be aware if it is no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most Llanbradachlease extensions you will be required to have owned the premises for a couple of years before you are entitled to carry out a lease extension.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Llanbradach