My partner and I are acquiring a brand new flat in Hyde and my lawyer is informing me that she has to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the builder. The Estate Agents are hassling me to sign contracts and I would rather not delay matters. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancing practitioner. A precondition to being on a mortgage company panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
I am purchasing a victorian detached house in Hyde. We would like to carry out an extension to the side at the property.Will legal investigations on the property include investigations to see if these works are allowed?
Your solicitor should review the registered title as conveyancing in Hyde can occasionally identify restrictions in the title documents which restrict certain works or necessitated the permission of a 3rd party. Some extensions need local authority planning consent and approval under the building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which often prevent or affect extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
When it comes to lenders such as RBS, do Hyde conveyancing practitioners face a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any lender fees to be on their panel, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
We had appointed conveyancing lawyers based in Hyde on the Barclays solicitor approved list. They have just billed me a supplemental charge for handling the Barclays mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Barclays?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your conveyancing practitioner is entitled to charge a fee for this. This charge is not set by Barclays but by your Hyde lawyer. Some firms on the Barclays panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many firms include it on their overall fee.
I bought my apartment on 10 September and my personal details is not yet on the land registry website. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in Hyde said it should be registered in a couple of weeks. Are transfers in Hyde particularly slow to register?
As far as conveyancing in Hyde is concerned, registration is no faster or slower than the rest of the country. Rather than based on location, timeframes can adjust subject to the party submitting the application, whether it is in order and whether the Land registry must send notices to any third persons or bodies. As of today approximately three quarters of submission are fully dealt with in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be longer delays. Registration is effected after the purchaser is living at the property so 'speed' is not typically an essential issue yet if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor should communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Hyde I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Hyde suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will likely be problematic. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you may request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
I need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner in Hyde for my house move. Is it possible to review a solicitor's complaints history with the legal regulator?
You can see documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions resulting from inquisitions from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For details Pre 2008, or to check a solicitors history, telephone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For non-uk callers, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator sometimes monitor telephone calls for training reasons.
I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Hyde where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Hyde conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process 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 at the same time as completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible 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.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Hyde - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying
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Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments? What is the annual maintenance fee and ground rent?