My fiance and I may need to rent out our Shotton basement flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Shotton conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Shotton conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain permission via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably withheld. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you should ask your landlord for their consent.

I have just started marketing my basement apartment in Shotton.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Shotton. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Shotton who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Shotton conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Shotton which have approximately 50 years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Shotton is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the property. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. 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 Shotton 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 You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed 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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Shotton from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Shotton can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Shotton charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Shotton.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Shotton - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

The answer will be helpful as a) areas can result in problems in the building as the communal areas may start to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will need to know about it Who are the managing agents? What is the yearly service fee and ground rent?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Shotton