My fiance and I may need to rent out our Crook 1st floor flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Crook conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

The lease dictates the relationship between the freeholder and you the flat owner; specifically, it will set out if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Crook do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

I am hoping to complete next month on a studio apartment in Crook. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Crook should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Crook please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Crook

I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed apartment in Crook.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the service charge 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Crook with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Crook can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Crook levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Crook.

Some Crook leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 solicitors.

If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy formality and slows down many a Crook conveyancing deal. Where a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £250000 garden flat in Crook in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Crook?

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

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Crook
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Crook leasehold premises is £350. For Crook 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 obliged to supply the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Crook - A selection of Queries before buying

Be sure to find out if the the lease includes any adverse restrictions in the lease. For instance it is reasonably common in Crook leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Crook. If you like the propertyin Crook yet your dog is not allowed to live with you then you have a very difficult choice. Is anyone aware of any major works in the planning that could increase the maintenance fees? You should want to discover as much as possible concerning the managing agents as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day issues such as the cleanliness of the communal areas. You should not be afraid to ask other tenants what they think of them. On a final note, be sure you discover the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and precisely what you get for your money.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Crook