I only have 72 years remaining on my flat in Datchet. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Datchet.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed apartment in Datchet.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you clear the invoice 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Datchet where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Datchet conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start 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 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 prior to, or at the same time as 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 purchaser.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Datchet conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Datchet conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Datchet conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 300000 garden flat in Datchet next week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Datchet?

Datchet conveyancing on leasehold flats usually requires the purchaser’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be willing to assist. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Datchet - A selection of Queries before buying

This question is useful as a) areas can result in problems for the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate if repairs remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will wish to know about it Generally speaking the cost for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Datchet require tenants to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger works.