I am intending to let out my leasehold flat in Nantyglo. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Notwithstanding that your last Nantyglo conveyancing lawyer is not available you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you must seek consent via your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet without first obtaining permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Nantyglo. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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. A critical element 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).

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Nantyglo where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Nantyglo conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 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 at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Nantyglo from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Nantyglo can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• A minority of Nantyglo leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Nantyglo conveyancing deal. If a new share is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

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

Leasehold conveyancing in Nantyglo is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• 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

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Nottingham Building Society 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.

Nantyglo Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

Generally speaking the outlay for major works are not included within maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Nantyglo obliged tenants to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance.