We are acquiring a newly built apartment in Fratton and Portsea and my conveyancer is telling me that she has to the bank to disclose incentives from the builder. I am under pressure to sign contracts and my preference is not to delay matters. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
Why do I have to pay up front for my conveyancing in Fratton and Portsea?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Fratton and Portsea your lawyer will ask you put them with funds to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the Local Authority Search. If any deposit is payable against the purchase price then this should be asked for immediately ahead of exchange of contracts. Any further balance that is due should be transferred shortly before completion.
I currently have a mortgage with Nottingham for my property in Fratton and Portsea. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Nottingham?
Nottingham must be informed of your intention in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nottingham’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Nottingham directly. You need not do this via a Nottingham conveyancing panel firm.
I can not work out if my bank requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Fratton and Portsea bank branch on numerous occasions and was told it does not affect the mortgage offer and they will lend. My Fratton and Portsea conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called to say that they refuse to lend based on their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. I have no idea who is right.
The conveyancer must follow the CML Handbook section two requirements for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
Planning on purchasing a flat in Fratton and Portsea. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Fratton and Portsea lawyer is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Fratton and Portsea is where the house is located. Can you offer any advice?
Flying freeholds in Fratton and Portsea are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Fratton and Portsea you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Fratton and Portsea may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
Taking into account that I will soon part with hundreds of thousands of pounds on a garden flat in Fratton and Portsea I would like to talk to a conveyancer regarding thehouse move in advance of instructing the firm. Can this be arranged?
We could not agree more - we would be delighted to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the solicitor due to be carrying out your property ownership legalities in Fratton and Portsea.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is unique person, not a matter number. The law firms that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are provided with for residential conveyancing in Fratton and Portsea should be the amount on the final invoice that you are charged.
We own a leasehold flat in Fratton and Portsea. Conveyancing was completed in last year. I have heard that I mustn’t let the the remaining lease term to get too low. Why is that a problem?
Fratton and Portsea leasehold properties are for a prescribed period - often ninety nine years when they are first granted. However a significant flats in Fratton and Portsea were constructed or converted in the 60’s and so these leases now have less than 80 years unexpired. This may sound like a long time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage companies on the whole need leases to have a minimum of seventy five years left to adequate security. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are nearing 75 years. To enhance your property value you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. There are also advantages to taking action before the lease reaches even eighty years as when the lease is below eighty years the premium you have to pay to extend starts to increase.