Helen (my wife) and I may need to sub-let our Mynydd Isa garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Mynydd Isa conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Mynydd Isa do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see 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.

I only have 72 years left on my lease in Mynydd Isa. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Mynydd Isa.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Mynydd Isa which have in the region of forty five years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Mynydd Isa is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the salability of the property. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with under 75 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 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 Mynydd Isa 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 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Mynydd Isa. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to 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. It is an essential part 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Mynydd Isa from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Mynydd Isa can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Mynydd Isa levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Mynydd Isa.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Mynydd Isa leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you dont have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a Mynydd Isa home move. Where a duplicate share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

Mynydd Isa Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

The best form of lease arrangement is where the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the lessees benefit from being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is usually employed if it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Generally speaking the outlay for major works are not included within service charges, although some managing agents in Mynydd Isa obliged tenants to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for major works.