I have 7378 less than 75 years unexpired on my lease and need a lease extension for my flat in Alnmouth. Conveyancing solicitors on the Chelsea Building Society panel can deal with such extensions correct?
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are securing a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Chelsea Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 26/1/2025 the requirements read as follows :
The mortgage over my property is with UBS for my property in Alnmouth. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform UBS?
UBS must be informed of your intention in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of UBS’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact UBS directly. You need not do this via a UBS conveyancing panel solicitor.
I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in September 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, Virgin Money are being difficult. The Alnmouth solicitor who is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Virgin Money are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Virgin Money have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Virgin Money have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Virgin Money may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
Having read lots of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Alnmouth solicitor - who is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Leeds Building Society will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Leeds Building Society will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Alnmouth postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Leeds Building Society, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Alnmouth.
The deeds to our home are lost. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Alnmouth 4 years ago are no longer around. Will I be able to sell the house?
As long as you have a registered title the details of your ownership will be retained by the Land Registry with a Title Number. It is easy to conduct a search at the Land Registry, locate your house and get current copies of the property title for a small fee. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases retain a file copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for £20 inclusive of VAT.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Alnmouth I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 49 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Alnmouth suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?
Should you need a home loan that many years will be problematic. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.
I’m about to sell my 2 bed apartment in Alnmouth. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have recently had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?
It best that you pay the invoice as normal because all rents and service invoices should be allotted on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I purchased a studio flat in Alnmouth, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable properties in Alnmouth with over 90 years remaining are worth £190,000. The ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2087
With only 62 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £17,100 and £19,800 plus legals.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.
We have been advised by various family members that it should take up to two months for Alnmouth conveyancing to complete.This was a month ago. The draft contract was only forwarded to my lawyer yesterday so does the time start running now?
You should be pragmatic about timing. Conveyancing in Alnmouth usually takes about two months. This time period is not due to solicitor being slow and purposely delay matters. The level of money involved in buying any property is so high, the purchaser's conveyancing practitioner needing to raise a whole range of questions, searches and further checks to protect the buyer and their mortgage company (if there is to be a home loan) from expensive, avoidable problems. Conveyancing in Alnmouth involves getting information from various third parties, for example other lawyer, local councils, private companies, building societies and banks. Many of these are efficient. Others aren't. It is worth noting that, it doesn't matter how quickly your lawyer do their job, if the people you are buying from or are selling to aren't ready, nothing can move forward until they are up to speed.