My wife and I are approaching an exchange on a flat in Chepstow and my mum and dad have sent the 10% deposit to my conveyancer. I am now advised that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my conveyancer needs to disclose this to my bank. I am advised that, in also acting for the bank he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is not just from me. I advised the mortgage company concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really necessary for him to raise this?
The conveyancing practitioner is duty bound to check with the bank to make sure that they understand that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. The solicitor can only disclose this to your mortgage company if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
Is it the case that all Chepstow solicitors on the Aldermore conveyancing panel are overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Aldermore approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of lenders do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the organisation would be regulated by the CLC.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Chepstow. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their solicitor. I paid an upfront payment of £175. Shortly after, the property lawyer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Santander conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Santander panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Co-operative have agreed my home loan in principle, my bid on a flat in Chepstow has been agreed to, what happens next?
Your property agent will wish to be informed of your solicitor's details (ensure that the solicitors are on the bank’s panel). Telephone Co-operative or the broker and finalise any appropriate documentation. Co-operative will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or owners to schedule a slot for the valuation to take place. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a fortnight to receive the mortgage offer. Co-operative will send the offer to you and your property lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Chepstow.
What can a local search tell me about the property my wife and I purchasing in Chepstow?
Chepstow conveyancing often commences with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company for instance PSG The local search plays an important role in most Chepstow conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any unpleasant surprises after you move into your new home. The search will 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 subject areas.
I own a renovated Georgian property in Chepstow. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and TSB. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should review 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Chepstow 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 question the position with the conveyancing solicitor who carried out the work.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and found one near me in Chepstow I like with open areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Chepstow suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?
If you need a mortgage that many years will be an issue. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
I own a leasehold flat in Chepstow. Conveyancing was finalised in five years ago. I have heard that I mustn’t allow the the remaining lease term to fall too low. What is the reasoning?
Chepstow leasehold properties are for a set term - normally 99 years when they are first granted. However many flats in Chepstow were constructed or converted 20 or more years ago and so these leases now have under 80 years left to run. This may seem like plenty of time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders generally require leases to have at least seventy five years unexpired to adequate security. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are nearing eighty years. To increase the marketability of your property you should be considering whether or not to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. Furthermore significant benefits to taking action before the lease hits eighty years as when the lease is below eighty years the amount to be paid to extend starts to get a lot more expensive.