My partner and I are buying a ground floor flat in Bearsted. My property lawyer is not listed on the mortgage company conveyancing list. Is it possible for me to retain my Bearsted conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the mortgage company list of approved lawyers?
You have a number of alternatives available to you here
- Complete the purchase with your existing Bearsted conveyancing practitioner but your lender will undoubtedly instruct a conveyancing practitioner from their approved list. This will result in additional charges and probable interruption.
- Get a fresh conveyancer to conduct the conveyancing, ensuring that they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
- Appeal to your solicitor to attempt to join the mortgage company panel
Is it necessary to take out insurance to cover chancel repairs when acquiring a house in Bearsted?
Unless a prior purchase of the house took place after 12 October 2013 you can assume that solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Bearsted to continue to recommend a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
About to purchase a new build flat in Bearsted. Conveyancing is daunting 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 legal work.
Here are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Bearsted
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Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? 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. Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £305k and identified one round the corner in Bearsted I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in Bearsted suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.
I am looking into buying my first house which is in Bearsted and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Bearsted. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Bearsted area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Bearsted. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found
I today plan to offer on a house that seems to be perfect, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have since found out that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Bearsted. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Bearsted ?
The majority of houses in Bearsted are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Bearsted so you should seriously consider looking for a Bearsted conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’spermission to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will appraise you on the various issues.
Bearsted Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before buying
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Please tell me if there are any major works in the near future that will increase the maintenance costs? The majority of Bearsted leasehold properties will have a service charge for maintenance of the block set on behalf of the freeholder. If you acquire the property you will have to meet this charge, normally periodically throughout the year. This can differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal grounds. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a exorbitant figure, say about £50-£100 but you should to check as occasionally it could be prohibitively expensive.