Helen (my wife) and I may need to sub-let our Patcham 1st floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Patcham conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Patcham conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to check 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 prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior 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.

I've found a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just 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 Patcham. Conveyancing advisers have not yet been appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Patcham are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Patcham in which case you should be looking for a Patcham conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example obtaining the landlord’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your lawyer should advise you fully on all the issues.

Back In 2006, I bought a leasehold house in Patcham. Conveyancing and Bank of Ireland mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Patcham who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Patcham conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Patcham. Do I have any liability for 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 be sure 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 work for a long established estate agent office in Patcham where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Patcham conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 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.

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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Patcham - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Be sure to find out if the the lease contains any adverse restrictions in the lease. By way of example some leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Patcham. If you love the propertyin Patcham yet your dog is not allowed to live with you then you will be faced difficult determination. In the main the outlay for major works are not included within maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Patcham ask leasehold owners to contribute towards a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger works.