My fiance and I may need to sub-let our Sunderland basement flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Sunderland conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have since shut 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?

Notwithstanding that your last Sunderland conveyancing solicitor is not around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the lease is non-specific, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek permission from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. This means that you cannot 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 have recently realised that I have Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Sunderland. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Sunderland.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Sunderland both have approximately 50 years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Sunderland. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling 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 field

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Sunderland where we see a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Sunderland conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 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 disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Sunderland conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Sunderland conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Sunderland conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How many lease extensions have they carried out in Sunderland in the last twenty four months?

Sunderland Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

Are there any major works in the planning that will likely increase the service fees? You should be aware that where the lease has fewer than eighty years it will affect the value of the flat. Check with your mortgage company that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth discovering how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you would be be obliged to have owned the premises for two years before you are eligible to extend the lease. The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the tenants have being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is frequently employed where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Sunderland