Helen (my wife) and I may need to rent out our Rhos On Sea 1st floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Rhos On Sea conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

A lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Rhos On Sea do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I’m about to sell my basement apartment in Rhos On Sea.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you discharge the service charge 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 until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I own a leasehold flat in Rhos On Sea. Conveyancing and Accord Mortgages Ltd mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Rhos On Sea who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Rhos On Sea conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a two apartments in Rhos On Sea both have in the region of 50 years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Rhos On Sea is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the property. The majority of purchasers and banks, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. 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 premises 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 Rhos On Sea 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.

I work for a long established estate agency in Rhos On Sea where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Rhos On Sea conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as 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 purchaser.

Rhos On Sea Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

Generally speaking the cost for major works tend not to be incorporated into the service charges, although a few managing agents in Rhos On Sea require leasehold owners to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for major repairs or maintenance. Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge payments? Many Rhos On Sea leasehold apartments will have a service bill for maintenance of the building invoiced on behalf of the management company. Should you buy the apartment you will have to meet this amount, normally in instalments during the year. This may be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal grounds. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a exorbitant sum, say about £50-£100 but you should to enquire as sometimes it could be prohibitively expensive.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Rhos On Sea