I would like to sublet my leasehold apartment in Longthorpe. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your previous Longthorpe conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain consent via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Longthorpe.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Longthorpe. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Longthorpe who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Longthorpe conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, 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 couple of maisonettes in Longthorpe both have about 50 years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Longthorpe 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 value of the property. For most purchasers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. 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 premises 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 Longthorpe conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending 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 Longthorpe where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Longthorpe conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 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 simultaneously with 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.

Longthorpe Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Where a Longthorpe lease has fewer than 80 years it will affect the value of the flat. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. A short lease means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the residence for a couple of years in order to be eligible to extend the lease. How many years are left on the lease? How much is the ground rent and service charge?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Longthorpe