It is 10 years ago since I acquired my house in Cricklade. Conveyancing lawyers have recently been retained on the sale but I am unable to find the title documents. Will this jeopardise the sale?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly the deeds may be retained by the mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the solicitor who acted in your purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers obtaining current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Cricklade involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it is more of a problem but is resolvable.
We previously instructed solicitors located in Cricklade on the Leeds Building Society solicitor panel. They have just billed me an additional amount for dealing with the Leeds Building Society mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Leeds Building Society?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your lawyer may charge a fee for this. The charge is not set by Leeds Building Society but by your Cricklade conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the Leeds Building Society panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but some practices incorporate it on their overall fee.
We were going to get a AIP from Santander this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we are dependent on web based calculators (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Santander recommend any Cricklade solicitors on the Santander conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?
You will need to appoint Cricklade solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Santander conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Santander through the process.
My offer was accepted on a property in Cricklade on 8/11/2024, valuation was booked 2 days after, all came back fine. Solicitor retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Bank of Ireland and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Are Bank of Ireland entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Bank of Ireland to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I am purchasing a new build house in Cricklade with a mortgage from Alliance & Leicester . The sellers refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not disclose to my conveyancer about the deal as it could jeopardize my loan with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Cricklade in advance of instructing lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor has said that some banks tend not give a mortgage on a flying freehold home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Cricklade. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Cricklade especially if they are acquainted with such properties in Cricklade.
We're FTB’s - agreed a price, but the estate agent told us that the vendor will only move forward if we use their preferred conveyancers as they want a ‘quick sale’. Our preferred option is to instruct a family conveyancer who is accustomed to conveyancing in Cricklade
It is highly unlikely the owners are driving this. If they want ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine buyer is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Contact the owners directly and make the point that (a)you are motivated buyers (b)you are ready to progress, with finances in place © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you are going to instruct your preferred Cricklade conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will give their estate agent a commission or achieve conveyancing figures demanded by corporate headquarters.
I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Cricklade where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Cricklade conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
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 purchaser.
Cricklade Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing
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The best form of lease arrangement is if the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this arrangement the leaseholders enjoy being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is usually retained if it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. It is important to be aware if redecorating or some other significant cost is due in the foreseeable future to be shared amongst the leasehold owners and could well materially impact the level of the service charges or require a one time invoice. Its a good idea to discover as much as you can concerning the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you will be at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical matters like the upkeep of the common parts. You should not be shy to ask prospective neighbours what they think of their management. Finally, be sure you discover the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and specifically how they are spending the funds.