Harry (my fiance) and I may need to let out our Redland garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Redland conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Redland conveyancing solicitor is not around you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek consent via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Redland which have in the region of fifty years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Redland. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Redland. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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 employed by a long established estate agency in Redland where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Redland conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

What makes a Redland lease defective?

Leasehold conveyancing in Redland is not unique. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Redland Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

What is the name of the managing agents? It would be wise to find out as much as possible regarding the managing agents as they will either make your living at the property much simpler or a lot more difficult. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to practical issues like the cleanliness of the common parts. Enquire of other people what they think of their management. Finally, be sure you understand the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the appropriate party and specifically what you get for your money.