My wife and I may need to rent out our Thornbury garden flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Thornbury conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

The lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will indicate if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Thornbury do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Thornbury.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the service charge 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Thornbury both have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Thornbury. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease shortens the value of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

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

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).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Thornbury where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Thornbury conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Thornbury Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries before buying

Is anyone aware of any major works in the near future that will likely add a premium to the maintenance costs? Does the lease have onerous restrictions?