My wife and I may need to let out our Porthcawl 1st floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Porthcawl conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Porthcawl conveyancing lawyer is not available you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek consent via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Porthcawl. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, 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).

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Porthcawl where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Porthcawl conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Porthcawl conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Porthcawl conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Porthcawl conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• What volume of lease extensions have they conducted in Porthcawl in the last twenty four months?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £175000 maisonette in Porthcawl next Monday . The managing agents has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Porthcawl?

Porthcawl conveyancing on leasehold flats often requires the purchaser’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions most will be content to do so. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

I invested in buying a 1 bedroom flat in Porthcawl, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Porthcawl with over 90 years remaining are worth £245,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2073

You have 52 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £39,000 and £45,000 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Porthcawl