Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Windsor. Before diving in I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Windsor - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

I own a leasehold house in Windsor. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Windsor who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Windsor conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Windsor both have about 50 years remaining on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £300000 maisonette in Windsor next Friday . The landlords agents has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Windsor?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Windsor conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Windsor
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Windsor leasehold premises is £350. For Windsor 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 obliged to supply answers.

What are the frequently found problems that you see in leases for Windsor properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Windsor. All 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 elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Clydesdale all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

Windsor Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Be sure to find out if the the lease includes any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. By way of example it is reasonably common in Windsor leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Windsor. If you like the apartmentin Windsor yet your dog can’t move with you then you will be faced difficult compromise. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? Who takes responsibility for maintaining and repairing the building?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Windsor