Harry (my fiance) and I may need to rent out our Westhoughton basement flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Westhoughton conveyancing firm in 2001 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

A small minority of properties in Westhoughton do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

Planning to complete next month on a garden flat in Westhoughton. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• Defining your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the building.E.G., does the lease grant a right of way over a path or staircase?
• Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
• Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or working from home
• What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in Westhoughton.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Westhoughton where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Westhoughton conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Westhoughton what are the most common lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Westhoughton is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Leeds Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Westhoughton - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Best to be warned if window replacement or some other significant cost is anticipated to be shared amongst the leaseholders and could well dramatically impact the level of the service charges or necessitate a one time payment.