My husband and I are buying a new build apartment in Caddington and my solicitor is informing me that she has to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the builder. I am under pressure to exchange contracts and my preference is not to prolong matters. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your lawyer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
My lawyer in Caddington has never been on on the National Westminster Bank Conveyancing Panel. Is it possible for me to use my family solicitor even though they are excluded from the National Westminster Bank panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your existing Caddington solicitors but National Westminster Bank will need to instruct a lawyer on their panel. This will result in additional total conveyancing fees and result in frustration.
- Choose a new solicitor to to deal with the conveyancing, obviously checking they are National Westminster Bank approved.
- Try to convince your National Westminster Bank solicitor to seek to join the National Westminster Bank panel
A colleague recommended that where I am purchasing in Caddington I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is sometimes included in the estimate for your Caddington conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Caddington around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Caddington Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Caddington.
The deeds to my property are lost. The lawyers who conducted the conveyancing in Caddington 4 years ago are no longer around. Will I be able to sell the house?
These day there are duplicates made of almost everything, and your solicitor will be aware exactly where to locate all the relevant documentation so you may buy or sell your house without a hitch. If copies are not available, your lawyer can put in place insurance or indemnities protecting you against possible claims on your premises.
I opted to have a survey done on a property in Caddington prior to instructing conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. Our surveyor advised that some banks may refuse to grant a mortgage on such a premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Caddington. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Caddington to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
What makes a Caddington lease unacceptable for security purposes?
Leasehold conveyancing in Caddington is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:
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Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property A duty to insure the building
A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, The Mortgage Works, and Alliance & Leicester all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.
I own a 2 bed flat in Caddington, conveyancing formalities finalised July 2009. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Caddington with a long lease are worth £190,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2088
With only 62 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £17,100 and £19,800 plus professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.