I am purchasing a leasehold flat in Kempston. My property lawyer is not on the lender solicitor panel. Is it possible for me to use my Kempston conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the mortgage company list of approved lawyers?
You have a couple of alternatives open to you here
- Proceed with your existing Kempston lawyer but your lender will need to use a solicitor on their conveyancing panel. This will result in additional charges together with potential interruption.
- Get a new conveyancing practitioner to act in the purchase, making sure they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
- Convince your property lawyer to pull out all the stops to join the mortgage company panel of solicitors
We're in Kempston, First timers buying with a mortgage (lender is Bank of Ireland , and our solicitor is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancing practitioner should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
Various internet forums that I have come across warn that are the primary reason for obstruction in Kempston house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Local searches are not likely to feature in any slowing down conveyancing in Kempston.
My wife and I purchased a terraced Edwardian property in Kempston. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Birmingham Midshires. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Kempston and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
I work for a long established estate agency in Kempston where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Kempston conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer 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.
I acquired a split level flat in Kempston, conveyancing having been completed April 2002. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Kempston with over 90 years remaining are worth £265,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2100
You have 75 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as costs.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.
I’m about to sell my basement flat in Kempston.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated however I have recently had a yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the service charge as usual because all rents and maintenance payments will be allottedas part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially