My lawyer has identified a a legal deficiency with the lease for the property we are purchasing in Barlborough. The seller’s lawyers have suggested title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our lawyer has advised that he must be satisfied that the bank is content with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the mortgage company ?
Notwithstanding that you have a mortgage offer from the bank does not mean to say that the property will meet their requirements for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. You and the mortgage company are the client. These conveyancing instructions must be adhered to.
I am the registered owner of a freehold property in Barlborough but still pay rent, why is this and what is this?
It is rare for properties in Barlborough and has limited impact for conveyancing in Barlborough but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for hundreds of years, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the establishment of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.
Previous rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence post 2037 is to be extinguished.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is removed from the RBS Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Barlborough?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
A colleague advised me that if I am purchasing in Barlborough I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is usually quoted for as part of the standard Barlborough conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Barlborough around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Barlborough Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Barlborough.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a simple, no chain conveyancing. Barlborough is where the house is located. Is there any guidance you can give?
Flying freeholds in Barlborough are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Barlborough you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Barlborough may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
Looking forward to exchange soon on a garden flat in Barlborough. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Barlborough should include some of the following:
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Where does the liability rest to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know which party is duty bound to repair and maintenance of every part of the building You should know if the lease allows you to add or improve anything in the property- you should be made aware as to whether any restrictions applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required Responsibility for maintaining the window frames Details of the parties to the lease, for instance these could be the leaseholder, head lessor, freeholder What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?
Barlborough Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying
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Please note that where the lease has no more than 80 years it will affect the salability of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you would be required to have owned the property for 24 months before you are entitled to extend the lease. The majority of Barlborough leasehold flats will have a service charge for the upkeep of the building invoiced by the freeholder. Should you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this charge, usually periodically accross the year. This can vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, normally this is not a significant amount, say about £25-£75 but you need to enquire as sometimes it can be surprisingly expensive. The prefered form of lease arrangement is where the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the tenants have control and even though a managing agent is often retained if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.