Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Windsor:

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Questions and Answers: Windsor leasehold conveyancing

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Windsor. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Windsor are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Windsor in which case you should be shopping around for a Windsor conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should report to you on the legal implications.

Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold house in Windsor. Conveyancing and Godiva Mortgages Ltd mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Windsor who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Windsor conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Windsor. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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. Strange as it may seem, 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 ensure 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Windsor with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

  • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Windsor can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
  • Some Windsor leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
  • If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a Windsor conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 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.

    • All being well we will complete the disposal of our £200000 garden flat in Windsor next week. The managing agents has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Windsor?

    Windsor conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not involves the buyer’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be willing to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have no choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

    Windsor Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

      Who are the managing agents? Plenty Windsor leasehold properties will have a service bill for maintenance of the block levied on behalf of the freeholder. Where you purchase the apartment you will have to pay this liability, usually periodically during the year. This could vary from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a large sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to check as occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds. It would be a good idea to enquire if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example it is fairly common in Windsor leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in Windsor. If you like the apartmentin Windsor however your dog is not allowed to live with you then you will be presented with a hard compromise.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Windsor