I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Maidenhead. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Maidenhead - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years left on my lease in Maidenhead. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Maidenhead.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Maidenhead. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £425000 garden flat in Maidenhead in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Maidenhead?

Maidenhead conveyancing on leasehold flats normally necessitates the purchaser’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions most will be content to assist. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is above £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Maidenhead what are the most frequent lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Maidenhead is not unique. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, Chelsea Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Maidenhead Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge payments? What prohibitions are there in the Maidenhead Lease? Please note that where the lease has less than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the property. Check with your lender that they are content with remaining years on the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering what this will be. For most Maidenheadlease extensions you would need to own the premises for 24 months in order to be legally able to exercise a lease extension.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Maidenhead