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Sample questions relating to St Columb leasehold conveyancing

Helen (my wife) and I may need to let out our St Columb garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a St Columb conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your previous St Columb conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can check your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without first obtaining consent. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in St Columb. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in St Columb should include some of the following:

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • Defining your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the building.For example, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or hallways?
  • Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • 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 For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in St Columb please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in St Columb

    • I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in St Columb both have approximately forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

    A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

    What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a St Columb conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

    If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a St Columb conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non St Columb conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

    • If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
  • What are the charges for lease extension work?

    • Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in St Columb with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Columb can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
    • Many landlords or Management Companies in St Columb levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Columb.
  • If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in St Columb state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you dont have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
  • A minority of St Columb leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
  • If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay 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 are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.

    • St Columb Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

      Is anyone aware of any major works on the horizon that will likely increase the service charges? It would be a good idea to enquire if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For example plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in St Columb. If you love the apartmentin St Columb but your cat can’t move with you then you will be presented with a hard choice. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in St Columb