I would like to let out my leasehold apartment in Shinfield. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?

Notwithstanding that your previous Shinfield conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to seek permission via your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I have just appointed agents to market my basement flat in Shinfield.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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 managing agents 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Shinfield conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Shinfield conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Shinfield conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Can they put you in touch with client in Shinfield who can give a testimonial?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Shinfield from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Shinfield can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Shinfield leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. If you dont have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.

A minority of Shinfield leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Completion in due on our sale of a £400000 flat in Shinfield next week. The freeholder has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Shinfield?

For most leasehold sales in Shinfield conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Shinfield
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Shinfield leasehold property is £350. For Shinfield 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 answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Shinfield - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Most Shinfield leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for maintenance of the building levied on behalf of the freeholder. Should you purchase the apartment you will have to meet this contribution, usually quarterly accross the year. This may vary from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, this is usually not a large sum, say around £25-£75 but you need to enquire it because on occasion it could be prohibitively expensive. What is the name of the managing agents? What is the length of the lease?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Shinfield