I am progressing with the sale of my home in Arundel and the estate agent has just e-mailed to advise that the buyers are appointing a new property lawyer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only engage with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a big named mortgage company only work with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Arundel ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 15 years.
Mortgage companies blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
Why do I have to pay up front when it comes to conveyancing in Arundel?
If you are buying a property in Arundel your lawyer will ask you to provide them with funds to cover the search fees. Normally this is asked for to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. If any down payment is as part of the sale price then this should be needed shortly ahead of contracts are exchanged. Any further balance that is needed will be payable a couple of days prior to the day of completion.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Arundel?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Arundel. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Just had an offer accepted on a new build apartment in Arundel. Conveyancing is necessary evil 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.
Set out below are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Arundel
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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. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier?
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Arundel ahead of retaining solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor advised that some banks tend not issue a loan on such a house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different instructions from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Arundel. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I work for a busy estate agent office in Arundel where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Arundel conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Arundel - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing
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What is the annual maintenance fee and ground rent? The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the tenants benefit from control and even though a managing agent is usually retained if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Please tell me if there are any major works on the horizon that will likely add a premium to the maintenance costs?