My wife and I are looking to acquire a property in Alfriston and have appointed a Alfriston conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Platform Home Loans Ltd have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Alfriston conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Alfriston solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My husband and I are refinancing our penthouse in Alfriston with Aldermore. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Aldermore conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Aldermore. This is solely used to protect Aldermore if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Aldermore had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
A friend informed me that in purchasing a property in Alfriston there may be a number of restrictions preventing external alterations to a property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in Alfriston which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Alfriston should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
Is there a list of UBS panel conveyancers in Alfriston on the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such facility on the CML or Building Society Association sites. A small selection of mortgage companies make their panel listings available over the internet. If you are looking for a Alfriston solicitor on the UBS please use our tool.
My wife and I are in the throws of looking at flats in Alfriston and I am about to put in an offer. Should I already have a lawyer in place at this point? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Nottingham.
It would be prudent to start your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the selling agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Nottingham, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel.
Me and my brother purchased a renovated Georgian house in Alfriston. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Birmingham Midshires. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Alfriston and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who completed the work.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Alfriston. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Alfriston
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The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Please supply a car parking plan.
Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Alfriston with the aim of saving time on the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Alfriston can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers’ conveyancers. If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled. If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy formality and delays many a Alfriston home move. If a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible. A minority of Alfriston leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, 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 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 lawyers.
Alfriston Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying
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Are there any major works in the near future that will likely add a premium to the service costs? You should be aware if it is fewer than 80 years it will affect the salability of the flat. Check with your bank that they are content with residual term of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely need a lease extension at some point and it is worth discovering what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the premises for a couple of years in order to be legally able to exercise a lease extension.