I am intending to rent out my leasehold apartment in Trimdon. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?

A lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will set out if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. The majority of leases in Trimdon do not prevent subletting altogether – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. In most cases there is simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

I've found a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have since been informed that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Trimdon. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Trimdon ?

The majority of houses in Trimdon are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Trimdon so you should seriously consider looking for a Trimdon conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your solicitor will advise you fully on all the issues.

I own a leasehold house in Trimdon. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Trimdon who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Trimdon conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Trimdon where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Trimdon conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Trimdon conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Trimdon conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non Trimdon conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

Trimdon Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

You should be aware that where the lease has less than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the value of the flat. Check with your lender that they are content with the length of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this will be. For most Trimdonlease extensions you will be required to have been the owner of the residence for a couple of years in order to be entitled to extend the lease. Most Trimdon leasehold apartments will incur a service bill for maintenance of the block set on behalf of the landlord. Where you acquire the flat you will have to pay this liability, usually in instalments throughout the year. This may differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a exorbitant sum, say around £50-£100 but you should to check as occasionally it could be prohibitively expensive. It is important to be aware whether window replacement or some other major work is due in the foreseeable future that will be shared by the leaseholders and will dramatically impact the level of the service charges or require a one time payment.

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Lease Extensions in Trimdon