We are hoping to purchase a 2 bedroom flat in Childwall with a mortgage. We like our Childwall lawyer, but the lender says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel conveyancing practices or continue with our Childwall solicitor and pay for one of their panel lawyers to represent them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Childwall conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
I am buying a victorian detached house in Childwall. Our aim is to an extension at the rear at the house.Will legal conveyancing on the property involve checks to see if these works are permitted?
Your property lawyer should review the deeds as conveyancing in Childwall will sometimes reveal restrictions in the title documents which restrict categories of works or necessitated the permission of another owner. Many extensions call for local authority planning permissions and approval under the building regulations. Certain locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
Having digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Childwall solicitor - who is on the Barclays conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Barclays will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Barclays will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Childwall surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Principality have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a property in Childwall has been accepted, what happens next?
Your estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the lawyers are on the bank’s panel). Call up Principality or the broker and complete any appropriate paperwork. Principality will appoint a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or owners to book an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a fortnight for the mortgage offer to be issued. Principality will issue 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 Childwall.
I moved into my apartment on 7 September and the transaction details is not yet on the land registry website. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in Childwall advises it will be registered in less than a month. Are transfers in Childwall particularly slow to register?
As far as conveyancing in Childwall is concerned, registration is no faster or slower than anywhere else in the country. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can adjust depending on who lodges the application, whether it is in order and whether the Land registry need to notify any other parties. Currently roughly three quarters of submission are fully dealt with within 12 days but some can be subject to longer delays. Historically registration occurs after the buyer has moved in to the property thus an expedited registration is not usually top priority yet if it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your lawyers can communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and identified one round the corner in Childwall I like with open areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Childwall suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be an issue. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you could 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 concerning this matter.
I'm remortgaging my existing house to a BTL loan with Barclays Direct and intend to use the remaining equity towards another property. The location we are looking at is Childwall. Will your conveyancers be able to act for both sets of mortgage companies and link together the two deals?
Do use our search tool on this site to be sure that the lawyers are on the relevant lender panels. Assuming that they are your solicitor should be able to tie up the two transactions but you should have a chat with you solicitor and specify your desired outcome and needs.
I’m about to sell my garden flat in Childwall. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, however I have recently had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?
It best that you discharge the service charge as normal given that all rents and service payments will be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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.
I bought a studio flat in Childwall, conveyancing was carried out in 2000. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Childwall with over 90 years remaining are worth £221,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2095
You have 70 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as costs.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.