Helen (my wife) and I may need to let out our Thatcham 1st floor flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Thatcham conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Thatcham do not prevent subletting altogether – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the sublease.

Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold house in Thatcham. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Thatcham who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Thatcham conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Thatcham. Am I liable to pay 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. 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).

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Thatcham where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Thatcham conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

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 wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Thatcham from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Thatcham can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Thatcham levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Thatcham.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Thatcham - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Does this lease have more than 80 years left? You should be aware that where the lease has less than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the value of the property. Check with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. For most Thatchamlease extensions you would be be obliged to have owned the property for 24 months before you are legally able to exercise a lease extension. Is there a share of the freehold?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Thatcham