My wife and I may need to rent out our Ormesby basement flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Ormesby conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous Ormesby conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain permission from your landlord or some other party in advance of subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Ormesby.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Ormesby conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Ormesby conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you talk with two or three firms including non Ormesby conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?

Completion in due on the disposal of our £225000 garden flat in Ormesby on Friday in a week. The management company has quoted £372 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Ormesby?

Ormesby conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates the purchaser’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions most will be willing to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Ormesby what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Ormesby. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair 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. Yorkshire Building Society, The Mortgage Works, and TSB all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

I inherited a 1st floor flat in Ormesby, conveyancing having been completed 1996. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent flats in Ormesby with an extended lease are worth £235,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2091

You have 66 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £14,300 and £16,400 as well as legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Ormesby