My wife and I may need to rent out our Windsor garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Windsor conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Your lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Windsor do not contain strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.

I've found a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have since been informed that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Windsor. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Windsor ?

Most houses in Windsor are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Windsor in which case you should be shopping around for a Windsor conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the landlord’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer should appraise you on the various issues.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Windsor. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Windsor who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Windsor conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Windsor with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Windsor can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Windsor leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer first.
• A minority of Windsor leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is under 75 years. It is therefore important 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 home on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £ 450000 flat in Windsor in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Windsor?

Windsor conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally necessitates the buyer’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They may levy a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. 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 management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

I invested in buying a ground floor flat in Windsor, conveyancing was carried out 9 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Windsor with a long lease are worth £268,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease ends on 21st October 2083

You have 57 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £31,400 and £36,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.