My fiance and I may need to rent out our Oldham ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We used a Oldham conveyancing firm 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?

Notwithstanding that your previous Oldham conveyancing lawyer is not around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior permission. Such consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

There are only Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Oldham. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Oldham.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently been informed that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Oldham. Conveyancing advisers have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Oldham ?

The majority of houses in Oldham are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Oldham so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Oldham conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the freeholder’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Oldham. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation 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. 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).

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £ 200000 maisonette in Oldham in 5 days. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Oldham?

Oldham conveyancing on leasehold flats usually involves fees being invoiced by management companies :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Oldham
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Oldham leasehold premises is £350. For Oldham conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide answers.

Oldham Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

Its a good idea to discover as much as you can regarding the company managing the building as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day issues like the cleanliness of the communal areas. You should not be afraid to ask other people whether they are happy with their service. On a final note, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the managing agents and precisely what it includes. The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the leaseholders enjoy control and even though a managing agent is frequently retained if it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders.