Helen (my wife) and I may need to let out our Shelfield garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Shelfield conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Shelfield do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse 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 consent.

I have just started marketing my garden apartment in Shelfield.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you discharge 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 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 tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Shelfield both have approximately 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Shelfield is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the property. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more positive 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 Shelfield 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 am employed by a busy estate agency in Shelfield where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Shelfield conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 purchaser.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £125000 maisonette in Shelfield in just under a week. The management company has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Shelfield?

Shelfield conveyancing on leasehold flats typically involves administration charges levied by landlords agents :

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Shelfield
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Shelfield leasehold premises is £350. For Shelfield conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply the information.

Shelfield Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Most Shelfield leasehold flats will have a service bill for maintenance of the building invoiced on behalf of the freeholder. Where you acquire the apartment you will have to meet this liability, usually quarterly during the year. This can be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge to be met annual, normally this is not a large amount, say around £25-£75 but you should to check as on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds. Best to be warned whether fixing the lift or some other major work is due shortly to be shared between the leaseholders and will materially increase the the maintenance charges or require a one time payment. Who is in charge of the block?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Shelfield