My partner and I may need to let out our Northumberland Heath garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Northumberland Heath conveyancing firm in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates relations between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Northumberland Heath do not contain strict prohibition on 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 supplying a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.

You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Looking forward to complete next month on a garden flat in Northumberland Heath. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
• Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the property, or working from home
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
• What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Northumberland Heath please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Northumberland Heath

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Northumberland Heath.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay 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 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 work for a reputable estate agent office in Northumberland Heath where we see a few flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Northumberland Heath conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start 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. This means 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 has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Northumberland Heath conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Northumberland Heath conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Northumberland Heath conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?
• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

My wife and I have hit a brick wall in seeking a lease extension in Northumberland Heath. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Northumberland Heath flat is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case affected 13 flats. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 76 years.

Northumberland Heath Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

How long is the Lease? It is important to be aware whether fixing the lift or some other significant cost is due in the foreseeable future to be shared amongst the tenants and could well dramatically impact the level of the maintenance costs or necessitate a one off invoice. On the whole the outlay for major works tend not to be included within service charges, although some managing agents in Northumberland Heath require leaseholders to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for larger repairs or maintenance.