My husband and I may need to sub-let our Sudbury ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Sudbury conveyancing firm in 2002 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?

Notwithstanding that your last Sudbury conveyancing lawyer is not available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you must seek permission from your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining permission. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I’m about to sell my basement flat in Sudbury.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly service charge demand – what should I do?

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

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Sudbury. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Sudbury who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Sudbury conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am attracted to a two flats in Sudbury both have in the region of 50 years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Sudbury is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the property. For most buyers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property 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 Sudbury 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 You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Sudbury conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Sudbury conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Sudbury 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:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?
• What are the costs for lease extension work?

Following months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Sudbury. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to determine the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Sudbury premises is Ground Floor Flat 79 London Road in September 2012. the Tribunal held that the premium payable for the lease extension should be £7,636 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 74 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Sudbury - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? How long is the Lease?