Unfortunately I am unable to travel far from Blyth. What is the rationale as to why all Blyth property lawyers are not on all bank panels?
Lenders normally impose restrictions on either the nature or the number of conveyancing practices on their panel. A common example of such criteria being that the firm needs to have at least two partners. As well as restricting the nature of firm, some banks decided to restrict the number of organisations they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of service given by any Blyth solicitor on their approved list. Increases in mortgage fraud was the main trigger for the reduction of conveyancing panels from 2008 even though there are contrary points of view about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Data published by HMLR exposes that thousands of conveyancing firms only conduct less than three conveyances a year. Those advocating conveyancing panel pruning question why conveyancing firms should have any entitlement to be on a lender panel when it is evident that property law is not their speciality?
What can a local search tell me regarding the property I am purchasing in Blyth?
Blyth conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations for instance Xpress Legal The local search plays an important part in many a Blyth conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any nasty surprises after you move into your property. The search should provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic sections.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one near me in Blyth I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 52 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Blyth in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
I need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor for sale conveyancing in Blyth. I happened to chance upon a site which seems to have the perfect solution If there is a chance to get all formalities done via web that would be preferable. Do I need to be wary? What should out be looking out for?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Blyth with the intention of expediting the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Blyth can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers. If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled. You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale. If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Blyth home move. If a new share is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible. Some Blyth leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Blyth - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying
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You should be aware that where the lease has less than 80 years it will impact the marketability of the flat. Check with your mortgage company that they are happy with residual term of the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the premises for a couple of years before you are entitled to exercise a lease extension. Are there any major works anticipated that will likely add a premium to the service charges? This information is important as a) areas could result in problems in the building as the communal areas may start to deteriorate where maintenance are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will wish to have complete disclosure
What can I do where I am dissatisfied with the solicitor who did my conveyancing in Blyth?
We live in an imperfect world, and is is a fact of life that occasionally matters do not go as planned. Nevertheless there is recourse where you were unhappy with your conveyancing in Blyth. This varies from trying to resolve matters directly with them, through to reporting a lawyer to their governing body. If things still aren’t sorted out you may consider enlisting the help of the Legal Ombudsman.