My financial adviser has asked me for my Crowland law firm’s panel reference for the Nationwide conveyancing panel. How do I find this out. I have tried my local Crowland branch but they have not responded to me.
Have you tried speaking to your Crowland lawyer about this?. Most Crowland law firms will keep a file or database of lender panel information which would include, if applicable, their conveyancing panel details for each mortgage company.
I have 71 years unexpired on my lease and need a lease extension for my apartment in Crowland. Conveyancing solicitors on the Nationwide Building Society panel can deal with such extensions correct?
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are getting a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Nationwide Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 19/4/2025 the requirements read as follows :
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years.
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period is less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 55 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial, etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined)
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn Ground Rent (Annual Rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any New Build properties completed but not sold pre-30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the Lease conforms to the above guidance.
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years.
Lease Extensions
We require all Lease Extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to Issuing Office.
Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
I am buying a property and the solicitor has identified Chancel Repair for which the house may be obligated to contribute to given it’s proximity to the area of such a church. He has mentioned insurance. Is this strictly warranted for conveyancing in Crowland
Unless a prior purchase of the premises completed post 12 October 2013 you may expect solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Crowland to remain recommending a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
What tools are available to search for a Crowland law firm on the Coventry Building Society conveyancing panel? I have a car and am willing to travel upto 10kilometers to meet the conveyancer.
You can use the facility on this website. Please select a bank and your location and you will see a number of Crowland conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have detailed some Crowland conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can contact them to verify if they are on the Coventry Building Society panel
My husband and I are FTB’s - agreed a price, but the agent advised that the seller will only issue a contract if we appoint the agent's preferred conveyancers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a high street solicitor used to conveyancing in Crowland
It is highly unlikely the owners are behind this. If they require ‘a quick sale', turning down a serious buyer is not the way to achieve this. Speak to the vendors direct and make the point that (a)you are motivated buyers (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances arranged © you do not need to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you will continue to instruct your preferred Crowland conveyancing firm - not the ones that will provide the negotiator at the agency a kickback or hit his conveyancing figures demanded by HQ.
I work for a busy estate agent office in Crowland where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Crowland conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that 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 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 has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.
Crowland Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying
-
How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? The answer will be helpful as a) areas can cause problems in the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if maintenance are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have an issue with the managing agents you will wish to have full disclosure Many Crowland leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the block levied on behalf of the landlord. Where you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this liability, normally periodically accross the year. This may differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. In all probability there will be a rentcharge to be met annual, this is usually not a large sum, say around £50-£100 but you should to enquire as occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds.