Harry (my fiance) and I may need to rent out our Mickleover ground floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Mickleover conveyancing practice in 2001 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?

A small minority of properties in Mickleover do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.

Expecting to complete next month on a garden flat in Mickleover. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Mickleover should include some of the following:

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

I own a leasehold flat in Mickleover. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage organised. 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 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Mickleover who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Mickleover conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Mickleover where we see a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Mickleover conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Mickleover what are the most common lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Mickleover. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, The Mortgage Works, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Mickleover - Examples of Queries before buying

Who takes responsibility for maintaining and repairing the block? Most Mickleover leasehold apartments will have a service charge for the upkeep of the block invoiced on behalf of the landlord. Where you acquire the property you will have to pay this charge, usually periodically throughout the year. This can be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to check it because on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds. What prohibitions are there in the Mickleover Lease?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Mickleover