Frank (my husband) and I may need to let out our Toddington basement flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Toddington conveyancing practice in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

The lease governs the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; 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. Most leases in Toddington do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a provision would adversely affect the market value the property. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the sublease.

Planning to complete next month on a garden flat in Toddington. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Toddington should include some of the following:

• Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the building.For example, does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or hallways?

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Toddington.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is pay the invoice 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Toddington. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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. However, 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 work for a reputable estate agent office in Toddington where we see a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Toddington conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence 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 sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

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

For most Toddington leaseholds the outlay for major works tend not to be included within service charges, although some managing agents in Toddington ask leaseholders to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major repairs or maintenance. Many Toddington leasehold apartments will have a service charge for maintenance of the block invoiced on behalf of the freeholder. Should you buy the property you will have to pay this amount, normally quarterly accross the year. This can be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to enquire as on occasion it can be prohibitively expensive. Does the lease include onerous restrictions?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Toddington