I can't travel far from Headley. Can you please clarify why all Headley property lawyers aren't automatically on all lender panels?
Banks point to the fact that solicitor-led fraud is considered to be responsible for millions of pounds of fraud every year.The dismissal of law firms off of lender panels started with the rise in mortgage fraud, which prompted a thematic review by the FSA in 2011. Its outcome included recommendations for mortgage companies to review their conveyancing panels, which kicked off a major policy change in the sector. It led to mortgage companies purging less reputable firms off their books of approved lawyers .
I am purchasing a property for cash in Headley. I have resided for the previous 20 years in Headley. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. As I have knowledge of the road and vicinity intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?
Provided that you do not need a mortgage, then all but one or two of the Headley conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your solicitor will try and sway you, perhaps strongly, that you should have searches done, but she is duty bound to take that path of advice. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to dispose of the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches determine. On occasion houses with functional issues can still throw up adverse search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Headley will be able to give you some helpful advice concerning this.
It is 10 years ago since I bought my house in Headley. Conveyancing solicitors have now been retained on the sale but I am unable to locate the deeds. Will this cause complications?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a possibility that the deeds will be retained by your lender or they may be archived with the lawyers who acted in the purchase. Secondly in all probability the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Headley relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it is more problematic but is resolvable.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as UBS, do Headley conveyancing practitioners have to pay a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any mortgage company fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Bank of Ireland. I assume I don't need a Headley lawyer on the Bank of Ireland panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland mortgage from the register. Bank of Ireland, 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 Bank of Ireland has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Bank of Ireland has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Barclays have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a apartment in Headley has been agreed to, what happens next?
The property agent will want to know who your solicitors are (be sure the lawyers are on the bank’s panel). Call up Barclays or your financial adviser and finish off any appropriate paperwork. Barclays will sellect a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or seller to schedule an appointment. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a week to get a mortgage offer. Barclays will send the offer to you and your property lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Headley.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one round the corner in Headley I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it only has 49 years on the lease. There is not much else in Headley for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
Should you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Headley from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Headley can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives. If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a Headley conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing. If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Headley state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer first. Many freeholders or Management Companies in Headley charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold home. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Headley.
Headley Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before Purchasing
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Most Headley leasehold properties will incur a service charge for maintenance of the block levied on behalf of the management company. Should you buy the flat you will have to pay this charge, normally in instalments throughout the year. This can be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a large figure, say around £25-£75 but you should to enquire as on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds. Please note that where the lease has fewer than 80 years it will affect the salability of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. For most Headleylease extensions you would be be obliged to have owned the residence for two years in order to be legally able to extend the lease. For most Headley leaseholds the outlay for major works tend not to be included within service charges, although a few managing agents in Headley obliged tenants to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for major works.