Our solicitor has discovered a defect with the lease for the property we are purchasing in Chinnor. The seller’s lawyers have put forward defective title insurance as a workaround. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our solicitor says that he must check that the bank is happy with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the mortgage company are the client. Your lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the lender can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your property lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
My aunt passed away six months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Chinnor. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £5k. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Yorkshire BS, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
Given you plan to re-mortgage then Yorkshire BS will require that you use a conveyancer on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Yorkshire BS mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
I purchased a semi-detached Georgian house in Chinnor. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and The Royal Bank of Scotland. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should read 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 owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Chinnor and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.
Should I choose a Chinnor conveyancing solicitor who is local to the property I am buying? We have a good friend who can execute the legal formalities however his firm is located 400miles away.
The benefit of a high street Chinnor conveyancing practice is that you can visit the firm to execute documents, deliver your identification documents and pester them if necessary. They will also have local insight which is a plus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If if people you trust instructed your friend and they were content that must trump using an unfamiliar Chinnor conveyancing lawyer just because they are local.
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Chinnor. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.
If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Chinnor - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
Chinnor Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing
-
How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? Who takes responsibility for maintaining and repairing the block? The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the leaseholders benefit from control and although a managing agent is often employed where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders.
Why can I not complete our conveyancing in Chinnor on Easter Monday?
Because on completion the money will be transferred electronically between the banks of the purchaser and seller's conveyancing practitioner and at present this can only take place on a business day. It is not possible to complete on a weekend either.