I want to rent out my leasehold flat in Roath. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

Your lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Roath do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Expecting to complete next month on a garden flat in Roath. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

I’m about to sell my basement apartment in Roath.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is clear 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 management companies 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.

Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold flat in Roath. Conveyancing and Clydesdale mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Roath who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Roath conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Roath where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Roath conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence 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 commence 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 needs to be completed before, or at the same time as 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 buyer.

Roath Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Most Roath leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the block set by the freeholder. If you acquire the flat you will have to meet this charge, usually periodically accross the year. This can be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a significant sum, say around £50-£100 but you need to check it because sometimes it can be prohibitively expensive. The prefered form of lease arrangement is where the freehold title is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the tenants benefit from control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. What prohibitions are contained in the Roath Lease?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Roath