What is the first thing I need to know regarding purchase conveyancing in Buckden?
Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Buckden or throughout Cambridgeshire is often a confrontational experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of opportunity for conflict between you and others involved in the transaction. E.g., the seller, property agent and even potentially your mortgage company. Selecting a solicitor for your conveyancing in Buckden should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE party in the transaction whose responsibility is to look after your legal interests and to keep you safe.
We are witnessing a worrying emergence of a "blame" culture- someone has to be blamed for the process being so protracted. You your first instinct should be to trust your solicitor ahead of the other parties in the home moving process.
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Buckden. I have a mortgage agreed with Nationwide. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Nationwide, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Nationwide conveyancing panel.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Buckden. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service with full details of your complaint.
Planning on purchasing a maisonette in Buckden. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Skipton conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Buckden conveyancer is on the Skipton conveyancing panel.
My colleague suggested that if I am purchasing in Buckden I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Buckden conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Buckden 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 demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Buckden.
I am purchasing my first flat in Buckden with a loan from Bank of Scotland. The developers refused to budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The estate agent suggested that I not to tell my lawyer about the deal as it would adversely affect my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one close by in Buckden I like with open areas and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Buckden in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.
I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Buckden. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I own a 1st floor flat in Buckden, conveyancing formalities finalised 6 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Buckden with a long lease are worth £202,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2081
With 57 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £28,500 and £33,000 plus costs.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.