My husband and I intend to purchase a newbuild flat in Hassocks with a mortgage from Birmingham Midshires.We would like to retain our Hassocks conveyancing solicitor but Birmingham Midshires informed us his firm is not listed on their approved list of firms. we are left little option but to use a Birmingham Midshires panel firm or keep our high street solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The home loan issued to you is subject to its various provisions, one of which will be that solicitors will be on the Birmingham Midshires approved list. Until recently, most mortgage companies had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Birmingham Midshires
My relative suggested that if I am purchasing in Hassocks I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Hassocks conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Hassocks around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Hassocks Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Hassocks Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Hassocks.
The deeds to my property can not be found. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Hassocks 5 years ago have long since closed. What do I do?
You no longer need to hold title official documentation to prove you own the land or property, given that the Land Registry hold details of all registered land or property electronically.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one round the corner in Hassocks I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, however it's only got 61 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Hassocks in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
What makes a Hassocks lease problematic?
There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Hassocks. Most leases are drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:
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Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts. A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Santander, Barnsley Building Society, and Clydesdale all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Hassocks - A selection of Queries before buying
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The best form of lease structure is where the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the tenants have control and although a managing agent is frequently employed if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. On the whole the outlay for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, albeit that some managing agents in Hassocks ask tenants to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major works. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments?
How does one as executor remove a deceased person's name from the title deeds for a property in Hassocks?
Where a Hassocks property is co-owned and one of the proprietors passes away, their name will not immediately be removed from the title deeds. It is not necessary to remove their name as when it comes to a sale you would just be required to evidence why the joint proprietor is not included in the contract, such as a grant of probate.
With the aim of making the sale conveyancing smoother in the future you can apply to have the deceased person removed from the title register by submitting an application to HMLR with proof of the death. There is no land registry fee payable.