Harry (my fiance) and I may need to rent out our Widnes basement flat for a while due to a new job. We used a Widnes conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Widnes do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience dictates 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 permission.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Widnes. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. 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 work for a busy estate agent office in Widnes where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Widnes conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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 wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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 purchaser.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Widnes with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Widnes can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Widnes levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Widnes.

Some Widnes leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy process and slows down many a Widnes home move. Where a reissued share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is under 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the sale of our £250000 garden flat in Widnes next Wednesday . The management company has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Widnes?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Widnes conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Widnes
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Widnes leasehold premises is £350. For Widnes 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 supply answers.

I inherited a split level flat in Widnes, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent flats in Widnes with a long lease are worth £222,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2091

You have 66 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £12,400 and £14,200 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Widnes