My partner and I may need to let out our St Neots ground floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a St Neots conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your previous St Neots conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The accepted inference is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain consent via your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

I’m about to sell my ground floor flat in St Neots.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay 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 unless 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.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in St Neots. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in St Neots ?

The majority of houses in St Neots are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in St Neots in which case you should be shopping around for a St Neots conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your lawyer will report to you on the legal implications.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in St Neots. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).

Completion in due on the disposal of our £500000 maisonette in St Neots in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £372 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in St Neots?

For most leasehold sales in St Neots conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in St Neots
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for St Neots leasehold property is £350. For St Neots 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 supply answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in St Neots - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Can you tell me if there are any major works on the horizon that could add a premium to the maintenance fees? Please note if it is fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your bank that they are content with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will probably need a lease extension at some point and it is worth discovering what this would cost. For most St Neotslease extensions you will need to own the premises for 24 months in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension. Who takes responsibility for maintaining and repairing the block?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in St Neots