My husband and I may need to let out our Tintagel ground floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Tintagel conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed 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 the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will set out if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Tintagel do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the sublease.

I have recently realised that I have Fifty years remaining on my flat in Tintagel. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce 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 property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Tintagel.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Tintagel with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Tintagel can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
• A minority of Tintagel leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. 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. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Tintagel conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £ 150000 flat in Tintagel in seven days. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Tintagel?

Tintagel conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times results in fees being raised by landlords agents :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Tintagel
• 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 Tintagel leasehold property is £350. For Tintagel 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 provide the information.

Are there common problems that you witness in leases for Tintagel properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Tintagel is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Accord Mortgages Ltd, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and TSB all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Tintagel Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before buying

It is important to be aware if redecorating or some other significant cost is anticipated that will be shared between the leasehold owners and will dramatically increase the the service fees or result in a one off invoice. What prohibitions are there in the Tintagel Lease?