My fiance and I may need to rent out our Fortis Green garden flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a Fortis Green conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Fortis Green conveyancing solicitor is not around you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining permission. The consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Fortis Green. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
• Are pets allowed in the flat?
• You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
• What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

I’m about to sell my garden apartment in Fortis Green.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a quarterly service charge demand – what should I do?

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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Fortis Green both have in the region of 50 years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Fortis Green. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

Having spent months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Fortis Green. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to calculate the price.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Fortis Green property is 21 St Matthews Court Coppetts Road in February 2013. the applicant applied to the Tribunal for a determination of the premium payable for a lease extension pursuant to Section 48 of the Leasehold Reform (Housing and Urban Development ) Act 1993. The tribunal therefore ordered that the premium was to be £13,267. This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 68 years.

What makes a Fortis Green lease problematic?

Leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements 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

You could encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Coventry Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Fortis Green Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

The majority of Fortis Green leasehold properties will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the block invoiced on behalf of the freeholder. Where you purchase the apartment you will have to pay this amount, usually periodically during the year. This may be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, this is usually not a large figure, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to check it because on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. It is important to be aware whether a new roof is being put on or some other major work is coming up to be shared between the leaseholders and could well materially increase the the service fees or necessitate a specific invoice.