It is a dozen years since I purchased my house in Bedminster. Conveyancing solicitors have recently been retained on the sale but I am unable to locate my title documents. Will this cause complications?
Don’t worry too much. First there is a possibility that the deeds will be kept by the mortgage company or they could still be with the lawyers who acted in your purchase. Secondly the chances are that the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors procuring up to date copy of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Bedminster relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is not registered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.
When it comes to lenders such as UBS, do Bedminster conveyancers face a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any bank fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
I currently have a mortgage with UBS for my property in Bedminster. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform UBS?
UBS must be informed of your intention prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of UBS’s mortgage conditions. It may be that UBS 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. It should not be necessary to do this via a UBS conveyancing panel lawyer.
It is unclear whether my lender requires a lease extension. I have called my Bedminster building society branch on various occasions and was advised it wasn't a problem and they will lend. My Bedminster conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called and was told they refuse to lend based on their published requirements. I have no idea who is right.
Your property lawyer must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook section two provisions for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
My relative suggested that where I am purchasing in Bedminster I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Bedminster conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Bedminster around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Bedminster Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Bedminster.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Bedminster?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Bedminster. 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…’
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Bedminster in advance of retaining solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. My surveyor advised that some lenders will refuse to issue a loan on this type of house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Nationwide. If you contact us we can check with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Bedminster. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Bedminster to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
We are soon to buying a property in Bedminster. Could our conveyancer keep our purchase price confidential from the likes of Zoopla. Is this possible and how?
HM Land Registry by statute are obliged to note price paid data on the official title for residential properties countrywide which includes properties in Bedminster. The register of ownership is a public document, so the Land Registry would be breaching their statutory duty excluded specific homes such as your one in Bedminster.
You can ask HM Land Registry to hide the price paid data but the response would be in the negative.