My wife and I may need to rent out our Wargrave basement flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Wargrave conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Even though your last Wargrave conveyancing lawyer is not around you can review your lease to see if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the lease is silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain consent from your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior consent. Such consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord for their consent.

There are only Seventy years remaining on my lease in Wargrave. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Wargrave.

I own a leasehold flat in Wargrave. Conveyancing and Bank of Ireland mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Wargrave who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Wargrave conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Wargrave from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Wargrave can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Wargrave levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Wargrave.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Wargrave state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Wargrave home move. Where a reissued share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

What are the frequently found problems that you come across in leases for Wargrave properties?

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

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• 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 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. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Barnsley Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Wargrave - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Generally speaking the cost for major works tend not to be incorporated into the service charges, although some managing agents in Wargrave obliged leaseholders to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance.