My wife and I may need to let out our Tavistock ground floor flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Tavistock conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

A lease governs the relationship between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will set out if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Tavistock do not prevent subletting altogether – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

I have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my lease in Tavistock. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Tavistock.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Tavistock. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. 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).

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

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Tavistock can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Tavistock charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have 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 cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Tavistock.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Tavistock state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you dont have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.

Some Tavistock leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any 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 solicitors.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Completion in due on the sale of our £225000 garden flat in Tavistock on Tuesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Tavistock?

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

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Tavistock
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Tavistock leasehold property is £350. For Tavistock 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 obliged to supply the information.

Tavistock Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

How much is the ground rent and service charge? Please note that where the lease has less than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the flat. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are content with remaining years on the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely need a lease extension at some point and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for two years in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension. It would be sensible to enquire if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. By way of example it is fairly common in Tavistock leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in Tavistock. If you like the propertyin Tavistock however your dog can’t live with you then you have a very hard decision.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Tavistock