This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as FTB of a two bedroom flat in Epsom. Do I receive the keys to the premises on the completion date from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will appoint a local conveyancing solicitor in Epsom?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will transfer the purchase money to the vendor’s lawyers, and once they have received this, you should be able to collect the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. Usually this happens between 1 and 3pm.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Aldermore. I assume I don't need a Epsom solicitor on the Aldermore panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Aldermore mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Aldermore mortgage from the register. Aldermore, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Aldermore has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Aldermore has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Epsom off the council. I have a mortgage offer with TSB. Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with TSB, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the TSB conveyancing panel.
I note that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Do I require this when purchasing a residence in Epsom? or Apparently there is a law dating back centuries that means some house owners living in a parish church boundary may be liable to pay for repairs to the chancel within the church. Is this applicable for conveyancing in Epsom?
Unless a prior acquisition of the house completed after 12 October 2013 you could assume that conveyancing practitioners delivering conveyancing in Epsom to continue to recommend a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my home can not be found. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Epsom 5 years ago are no longer around. What are my options?
Assuming you have a registered title the information relating to your proprietorship will be retained by HMLR with a Title Number. It is easy to execute a search at the Land Registry, locate your property and get up to date copies of the property title for a small fee. Where the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally hold a file copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be obtained for £20 inclusive of VAT.
I am 18 days into a leasehold purchase having been referred to solicitors by the estate agent to perform conveyancing in Epsom. I am am starting to be frustrated with the quality of service. Can you help me find new lawyers?
They would need to be really poor in order to consider diss instructing them. Has your mortgage offer been sent? In the event that it has you must advise them of the new lawyer and have the mortgage documents are re-issued. Your new conveyancer should be on the lenders approved list to avoid added fees and delays. So that should be your starting point. The search tool should help you find a bank approved lawyer for your home move in Epsom
I am looking at a two flats in Epsom which have in the region of fifty years left on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Epsom is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Epsom conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a Epsom conveyancing firm to help?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Epsom conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Epsom residence is 33 The Maisonettes Alberta Avenue in June 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of a new lease be the sum of £20,680 (Twenty Thousand six hundred and eighty pounds). This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 60.43 years.
We own a leasehold flat in Epsom. Conveyancing was finished in 2009. I have heard that I mustn’t allow the the remaining lease term to get too short. Why is that a problem?
Epsom leasehold properties are for a prescribed term - often ninety nine years when they commenced. However a significant appartments in Epsom were constructed or converted in the 60’s and so such leases now have under 80 years unexpired. This may seem like plenty of time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage institutions on the whole require leases to have a minimum of seventy five years unexpired to adequate security. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are approaching 75 years. To increase the saleability of your property you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. Please note that there are advantages to taking action before the lease reaches even eighty years as when the lease is less than 80 years the premium to be paid to extend starts to escalate.