Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Somersham:

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Somersham leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to rent out our Somersham 1st floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Somersham conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Somersham do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience suggests 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 permission.

Expecting to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Somersham. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Somersham should include some of the following:

  • Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
  • Setting out your rights in respect of the communal areas in the block.E.G., does the lease grant a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
  • Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
  • Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the property, or working from home
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • Responsibility for repairing the window frames
  • What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Somersham please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Somersham

    • I've recently bought a leasehold house in Somersham. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

    Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

    If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

    Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Somersham with the intention of expediting the sale process?

    • A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Somersham can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
    • Some Somersham leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes 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 flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.
  • If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy formality and slows down many a Somersham conveyancing transaction. If a new share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.
  • You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

    • Are there frequently found defects that you encounter in leases for Somersham properties?

    There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Somersham. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

    • Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
    • Insurance obligations
    • 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 could encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Santander, Skipton Building Society, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

    Somersham Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

      Its a good idea to discover as much as you can about the managing agents as they can either make life much simpler or problematic. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day issues such as the upkeep of the communal areas. Enquire of prospective neighbours what they think of them. In conclusion, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the appropriate party and specifically how they are spending that money. Does this lease have more than 85 years left? Where a Somersham lease has less than eighty years it will affect the marketability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Somershamlease extensions you will need to own the premises for two years in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Somersham