I am assisting my aunt sell her house in Corston. Does the solicitor arrange an energy assessment or should I organise this?
Following the demise of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates was retained a mandatory element of moving property. An energy performance certificate should be to hand prior to the property being advertised. This is not a task that lawyers ordinarily organise. Where you are instructing a Corston conveyancing solicitor they might be willing to arrange energy performance certificates given their contacts with reputable Corston assessors
is it true that all Corston conveyancing solicitors on the Lloyds conveyancing panel are governed by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Lloyds approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Some lenders do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the practice would be overseen by the CLC.
I am due to exchange contracts on my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in October 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Kent Reliance are being difficult. The Corston solicitor who is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Kent Reliance are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Kent Reliance have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Kent Reliance have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Kent Reliance may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
My relative advised me that where I am buying in Corston I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Corston conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Corston 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 House Prices, Crime statistics, Corston Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Corston.
The deeds to our home can not be found. The solicitors who dealt with the conveyancing in Corston 10 years ago have long since closed. What do I do?
You no longer need to hold title original deeds to establish that you own the land or property, as the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.
I'm buying my first flat in Corston with a loan from Britannia. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The sale representative suggested that I not to tell my conveyancer about the deal as it will affect my loan with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
My uncle has urged me to use his conveyancing solicitors in Corston. Do I take his guidance?
Much as we are happy to recommend a Corston conveyancing lawyer it’s preferable to choose a conveyancing solicitor is to get recommendations from friends or relatives who have actually previously instructed the firm that you are contemplating using.
I work for a long established estate agency in Corston where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Corston conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?
As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
I acquired a leasehold flat in Corston, conveyancing was carried out in 2011. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Corston with an extended lease are worth £197,000. The ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2081
With just 56 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £29,500 and £34,000 plus professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.