My fiance and I may need to rent out our Northwood basement flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Northwood conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your last Northwood conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I have just started marketing my basement apartment in Northwood.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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've found a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have just found out that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Northwood. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Northwood are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Northwood in which case you should be shopping around for a Northwood conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer should appraise you on the various issues.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Northwood which have about fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Northwood. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Northwood where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Northwood conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can start 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is 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 has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Northwood. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Northwood residence is Flats 8, 11 and 15 Craigmore Court 46 Murray Road in December 2013. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 8 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,438 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenants of Flat 11 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,791 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 15 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,638 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . This case related to 3 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 71 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Northwood