Frank (my husband) and I may need to sub-let our Somersham ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Somersham conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Even though your previous Somersham conveyancing lawyer is not around you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must obtain permission from your landlord or other appropriate person prior to subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining permission. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If the lease prohibits you from letting out the property you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Somersham.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you clear the service charge 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Somersham with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Somersham can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Somersham charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Somersham.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Somersham conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £ 225000 maisonette in Somersham next Tuesday . The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Somersham?

For most leasehold sales in Somersham 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 Somersham
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Somersham leasehold property is £350. For Somersham 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 provide the information.

What are the common deficiencies that you come across in leases for Somersham properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Somersham is not unique. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Nationwide Building Society, The Mortgage Works, and Barclays Direct 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 does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Somersham - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

Where a Somersham lease has no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the property. Check with your bank that they are happy with residual term of the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would be be obliged to have been the owner of the premises for a couple of years before you are entitled to exercise a lease extension. On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be wrapped into the service charges, albeit that some managing agents in Somersham require tenants to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance.