I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Tintagel. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Tintagel - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

My husband and I may need to let out our Tintagel garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Tintagel conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Your lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Tintagel do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I own a leasehold flat in Tintagel. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Tintagel who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Tintagel conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Tintagel. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

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).

We expect to complete our sale of a £450000 apartment in Tintagel in just under a week. The management company has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Tintagel?

Tintagel conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically results in administration charges raised by freeholders :

• Completing pre-contract 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 solicitor 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.

Tintagel Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

This question is helpful as a) areas can cause problems for the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if repairs are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have an issue with the managing agents you will want to have complete disclosure The prefered form of lease structure is where the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the tenants have control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually employed where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Is there a share of the freehold?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Tintagel