I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Patcham. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Patcham - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Frank (my husband) and I may need to let out our Patcham ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Patcham conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Patcham do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably withhold but, in such cases, they would need to review 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.

There are only Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Patcham. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If you qualify, 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. For most situations a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Patcham.

I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Patcham.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is 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 management companies 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.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Patcham which have about fifty years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Patcham is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with less than eighty 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 premises 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 property 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 Patcham 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 They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new 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.

Patcham Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying

Generally speaking the cost for major works tend not to be incorporated into the service charges, albeit that some managing agents in Patcham require tenants to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for larger repairs or maintenance. The answer will be important as a) areas may cause problems in the block as the communal areas may start to deteriorate if services remain unpaid b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the running of the building you will want to have all the details Many Patcham leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the building levied on behalf of the landlord. Should you buy the apartment you will have to pay this contribution, normally quarterly throughout the year. This can differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a significant figure, say around £25-£75 but you need to check it because on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds.

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Lease Extensions in Patcham