Frank (my husband) and I may need to let out our Southport 1st floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Southport conveyancing firm in 2004 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?

Notwithstanding that your previous Southport conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek permission via your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without first obtaining consent. Such consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I am hoping to complete next month on a studio apartment in Southport. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Southport 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 relation to the communal areas in the building.For instance, does the lease grant a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
• You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Southport.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is 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.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Southport both have in the region of forty five years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Southport. The lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the value of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Southport where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Southport conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Southport Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Make sure you investigate if the the lease contains any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. By way of example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Southport. If you love the flatin Southport however your dog can’t make the move with you then you have a very hard determination. The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the lessees enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often retained where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.