My wife and I may need to sub-let our Wick basement flat temporarily due to a new job. We instructed a Wick conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will indicate 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. The majority of leases in Wick do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the sublease.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Wick.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is clear 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Wick. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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 ensure 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 am employed by a reputable estate agency in Wick where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Wick conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-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 before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Wick conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Wick conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non Wick conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Wick who can give a testimonial?

Wick Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

Who is in charge of the block? Make sure you investigate if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For instance it is very common in Wick leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Wick. If you like the apartmentin Wick but your cat is not allowed to live with you then you will be presented with a difficult determination. The answer will be helpful as a) areas could result in problems for the block as the communal areas may start to deteriorate where maintenance are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have an issue with the managing agents you will wish to have all the details

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Wick