Jane (my partner) and I may need to rent out our Shildon 1st floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Shildon conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Shildon conveyancing lawyer is no longer available you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain consent from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without prior consent. Such consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I only have 72 years left on my flat in Shildon. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. On the whole a specialist should be useful to try and locate and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Shildon.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Shildon.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is clear 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 unless 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 work for a reputable estate agent office in Shildon where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Shildon conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with 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 buyer.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Shildon what are the most common lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Shildon is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• 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

You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Barnsley Building Society, and Clydesdale 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 provide security, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Shildon Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Be sure to find out if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For example some leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Shildon. If you love the apartmentin Shildon yet your cat is not allowed to move with you then you have a very difficult decision. You should want to find out as much as you can about the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you will be in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical matters such as the tidiness of the common parts. Enquire of prospective neighbours what they think of their management. Finally, investigate as to the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the managing agents and specifically what it includes. Many Shildon leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the building invoiced on behalf of the management company. Where you purchase the property you will have to pay this charge, usually periodically during the year. This could be anything from a few 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 figure, say around £25-£75 but you need to enquire as sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Shildon