About to place an offer on a leasehold apartment in Bicester. The estate agents tell me that it is standard for flats in Bicester to have less than 75 years unexpired on the lease. I am getting a loan with Bank of Ireland. Will the property be mortgageable given that the lease has 72 years to go.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Bank of Ireland have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 23/10/2025 the requirements read as follows :
Should our solicitor be making enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Bicester.
Flooding is a growing risk for lawyers carrying out conveyancing in Bicester. Some people will acquire a house in Bicester, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical damage, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Solicitors are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, however there are a numerous searches that may be undertaken by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which can give them a better appreciation of the risks in Bicester. The standard property information forms supplied to a buyer’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a standard question of the vendor to determine whether the property has suffered from flooding. In the event that flooding has previously occurred and is not notified by the owner, then a purchaser may issue a claim for damages as a result of such an inaccurate answer. A buyer’s conveyancers will also order an environmental report. This should higlight whether there is any known flood risk. If so, further inquiries should be made.
I purchased a terraced Victorian property in Bicester. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Clydesdale. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Bicester and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Bicester I like with a park and station nearby, however it's only got 49 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Bicester for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
I was pointed in your direction by numerous property agents in Bicester to locate a property lawyer using your seach tool. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to promote your lawyers rather than another?
We refuse to make any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because members of the public would think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
I’m about to sell my garden flat in Bicester. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, however I have recently had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?
The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge as usual as all rents and service invoices should be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Bicester - Examples of Queries Prior to buying
-
How much is the ground rent and service charge? This information is important as a) areas could cause problems for the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if maintenance are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the managing agents you will want to have all the details