We were just about to exchange contracts for a freehold house in Catterick Garrison. We have hit a problem. Our mortgage offer with Halifax expires on 23/1/2025 but the owners are putting forward a completion date of 27/1/2025. Is it possible to extend the loan expiry date?
The person best placed to deal with your concern is your conveyancer who will hopefully calculate if they better off negotiating with the mortgage company, owner’s conveyancers, property agents or conceivably all three based on what has gone on in your conveyancing as of today.
I have 70 years unexpired on my lease and require a lease extension for my apartment in Catterick Garrison. Conveyancing solicitors on the The Mortgage Works panel can deal with such extensions right?
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are getting a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 23/11/2024 the requirements read as follows :
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 70 years
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 70 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn ground rent (annual rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any new build properties completed but not sold pre 30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the lease conforms to the above guidance
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years
LEASE EXTENSIONS
We require all lease extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to the Issuing Office
Do commercial conveyancing searches disclose proposed roadworks that could impact a commercial site in Catterick Garrison?
Its becoming the norm that commercial conveyancing solicitors in Catterick Garrison will carry out a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers expend in investigating accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Catterick Garrison. The report provides definitive information on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Catterick Garrison.
For each commercial conveyancing transaction in Catterick Garrison it is crucial to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been addressed adequately can cause delays to Catterick Garrison commercial conveyancing transactions as well as present a risk to future intentions for the site. These searches are not conducted for domestic conveyancing in Catterick Garrison.
I opted to have a survey done on a property in Catterick Garrison prior to instructing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. Our surveyor advised that some banks may refuse to give a loan on such a premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different requirements from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can check via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Catterick Garrison. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Catterick Garrison to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
I am looking to sell my house. My past conveyancers have shut. It would be helpful to have a recommendation of a conveyancing firm. I happen to live in Catterick Garrison if that makes things easier.
Please use our search tool to help you choose a solicitor for your conveyancing in Catterick Garrison. We have connected thousands of home buyers and sellers with regulated solicitors to ensure that the legalities of their house move goes smoothly.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Catterick Garrison. Conveyancing has not commenced, but I have recently received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?
The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge as you normally would as all ground rent and maintenance payments should be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Catterick Garrison - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing
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Most Catterick Garrison leasehold properties will have a service bill for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the landlord. Should you buy the property you will have to pay this liability, usually in instalments during the year. This can vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal grounds. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge to be met annual, this is usually not a exorbitant figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to enquire as sometimes it could be prohibitively expensive. The answer will be useful as a) areas can cause problems for the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate if repairs are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the running of the building you will need to know about it If a Catterick Garrison lease has less than eighty years it will impact the salability of the flat. Check with your bank that they are content with remaining years on the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most Catterick Garrisonlease extensions you would be required to have owned the premises for a couple of years in order to be entitled to carry out a lease extension.