I am intending to let out my leasehold apartment in Newington. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Notwithstanding that your previous Newington conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to seek consent via your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed apartment in Newington.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is clear 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Newington which have in the region of 50 years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Newington is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Newington conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Newington where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Newington conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser 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 prior to, or at the same time as 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 purchaser.

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

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Newington conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Newington 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 of use:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to purchase the freehold in Newington. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Newington conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Newington premises is 1-41 Royal Tower Lodge 40 Cartwright Street in April 2013. the tribunal adding the agreed value of capitalised ground rents and the reversion the price to be paid for the freehold was £1,187,000 This case was in relation to 41 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 107 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Newington