My fiance and I may need to rent out our St Helier ground floor flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a St Helier conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous St Helier conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you must seek permission via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I have recently realised that I have 72 years left on my lease in St Helier. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. In some cases a specialist may be useful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering St Helier.

I own a leasehold house in St Helier. Conveyancing and Accord Mortgages Ltd mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in St Helier who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a St Helier conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in St Helier both have approximately fifty years unexpired on the leases. should I be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders 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 conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I've recently bought a leasehold property in St Helier. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

We have reached the end of our tether in seeking a lease extension in St Helier. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the premium.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a St Helier property is Buchanan Court 39 Vernon Road in April 2010. the Tribunal assessed that the premium payable for the freehold of the block should be £44,000. This case related to 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 66.67 years.