My wife and I may need to let out our Tutbury garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Tutbury conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Tutbury conveyancing solicitor is not available you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet without prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease prohibits you from letting out the property you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

There are only Seventy years remaining on my flat in Tutbury. I am keen 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 apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Tutbury.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Tutbury where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Tutbury conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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. This means 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 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.

We expect to complete our sale of a £200000 flat in Tutbury next Wednesday . The managing agents has quoted £372 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Tutbury?

Tutbury conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally necessitates fees being raised by freeholders :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Tutbury
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Tutbury leasehold property is £350. For Tutbury 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.

What makes a Tutbury lease problematic?

Leasehold conveyancing in Tutbury is not unique. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, The Mortgage Works, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed requirements 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 grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Tutbury - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Most Tutbury leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the freeholder. If you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this amount, usually quarterly throughout the year. This may be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a large figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to enquire it because on occasion it can be surprisingly expensive. How is the lease structured? How long is the Lease?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Tutbury