My partner and I may need to let out our Watchet 1st floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Watchet conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. 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 banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Watchet do not contain subletting altogether – such a provision 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 have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed apartment in Watchet.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Watchet. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part 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).

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Watchet from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Watchet can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Watchet leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. If you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer in the first instance.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £300000 apartment in Watchet in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Watchet?

Watchet conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not involves the buyer’s solicitor sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions most will be content to assist. They may charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is above £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I acquired a ground floor flat in Watchet, conveyancing was carried out in 2004. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Watchet with an extended lease are worth £196,000. The ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease ends on 21st October 2086

With 61 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £21,900 and £25,200 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Watchet