My partner and I may need to sub-let our Ruskington 1st floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Ruskington conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Ruskington conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must obtain permission 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 turned down. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years unexpired on my flat in Ruskington. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission 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. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. On the whole a specialist should be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Ruskington.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Ruskington.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a quarterly service charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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 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 am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Ruskington. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Ruskington are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Ruskington so you should seriously consider looking for a Ruskington conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’spermission to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your conveyancer will appraise you on the various issues.

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold house in Ruskington. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Ruskington who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Ruskington conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Ruskington Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

How many years are left on the lease? For most Ruskington leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be built into the service charges, although a few managing agents in Ruskington obliged tenants to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of establishing a fund for larger works. If a Ruskington lease has fewer than 80 years it will impact the marketability of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most Ruskingtonlease extensions you will need to own the premises for 24 months before you are legally able to carry out a lease extension.

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Lease Extensions in Ruskington