There are only Seventy years remaining on my flat in Slough. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Slough.

Planning to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Slough. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Slough please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Slough

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Slough with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Slough can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Slough state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.

If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Slough home move. If a new share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Completion in due on our sale of a £325000 garden flat in Slough next Tuesday . The landlords agents has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Slough?

For most leasehold sales in Slough conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Slough
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Slough leasehold property is £350. For Slough conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply answers.

What are the common deficiencies that you come across in leases for Slough properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Slough is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You may have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Coventry Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I inherited a 1st floor flat in Slough, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable properties in Slough with a long lease are worth £175,000. The ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2088

You have 67 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Slough