It is is a decade since I acquired my property in Astwood Bank. Conveyancing lawyers have just been retained on the sale but I am unable to find my deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly the deeds may be with the lender or they may be in the possession of the conveyancers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Astwood Bank involves registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it is more of a problem but is resolvable.
I happen to be the sole recipient of my late grandmother’s estate and I have everything in my name now, including the my former home in Astwood Bank. The Astwood Bank property was put into my name in July. I want to move. I understand that there is a CML 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship will be regarded the same way as if I'd bought the property in July. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The CML handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. Some mortgage companies would take a sensible view as this clause is principally there to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
We had chosen conveyancers based in Astwood Bank on the Kent Reliance solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a supplemental sum for dealing with the Kent Reliance mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Kent Reliance?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your lawyer can charge a fee for this. This charge is not dictated by Kent Reliance but by your Astwood Bank solicitor. Plenty of firms on the Kent Reliance panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee but some practices include it on their overall fee.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Astwood Bank. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £200. Not long after, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Aldermore panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I have todaybeen informed that Wolstenholmes have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Astwood Bank for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 18 months ago. How can I check that the property is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?
The easiest way to see if the property is in your name, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Astwood Bank conveyancing specialists.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £305k and identified one near me in Astwood Bank I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Astwood Bank in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be an issue. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.
I'm converting the mortgage on my existing home to a buy to let loan with TSB and I will use the ballance of the raised equity as a down payment on a second property. The area we are talking about is Astwood Bank. Will your solicitors be able to act for both sets of mortgage companies and link together the two deals?
Do use our comparison tool on this page to check that the conveyancers are on the relevant lender panels. On the basis that they are the solicitor should be able to simultaneously deal with the two transactions but you should talk with you conveyancer and make clear your expectations and requirements.
Is there a reason that Astwood Bank conveyancing fees differ for leasehold and freehold properties?
Inevitably there is increased work necessary for leasehold conveyancing. Astwood Bank has many leasehold properties. There is more paperwork involved in the purchase: for example, the lease and leasehold information (including up to date service charge, ground rent and buildings insurance details) obtained from the freeholder or managing agents. There are strict criteria that the lease must meet in order to be acceptable to a mortgage company. If it does not meet these requirements, the lease must be amended, which can involve additional expense for the seller.