My fiance and I may need to rent out our Mersea Island basement flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Mersea Island conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will set out if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Mersea Island do not prevent subletting altogether – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

Expecting to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Mersea Island. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Mersea Island should include some of the following:

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Mersea Island. Conveyancing and Clydesdale mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Mersea Island who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Mersea Island conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a two apartments in Mersea Island both have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Mersea Island is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. The majority of buyers and mortgage companies, leases with under 75 years become less and less attractive. 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 a residence 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 Mersea Island 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Mersea Island conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Mersea Island conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with several firms including non Mersea Island conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

Mersea Island Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

Be sure to find out if the the lease contains any adverse restrictions in the lease. For example it is very common in Mersea Island leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in Mersea Island. If you like the flatin Mersea Island yet your dog can’t live with you then you have a very difficult decision. What is the the remaining lease term? Plenty Mersea Island leasehold flats will have a service charge for maintenance of the building invoiced by the freeholder. Should you purchase the flat you will have to meet this contribution, normally quarterly during the year. This can be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, this is usually not a exorbitant sum, say about £50-£100 but you need to check it because occasionally it can be prohibitively expensive.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Mersea Island