My conveyancer has discovered a defect with the lease for the apartment we are purchasing in Leyton. The other side have offered defective title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our lawyer has advised that he must check that the bank is willing to move forward with this solution. Are we the client or is the lender?
Regardless of the fact that you have a mortgage offer from the mortgage company does not mean to say that the property will meet their provisions for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. You and the mortgage company are the client. The appropriate lender specifications must be adhered to.
We had appointed conveyancers located in Leyton on the Skipton solicitor approved list. They have just billed me a further charge for the legal aspects of the Skipton mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Skipton?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your conveyancing practitioner can levy a fee for this. The charge is not dictated by Skipton but by your Leyton lawyer. Numerous firms on the Skipton panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Leyton. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £200. A few days later, the conveyancer called me to say that they were not on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Kent Reliance panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I've read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Leyton solicitor - who is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Aldermore will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Aldermore will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Leyton postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Aldermore, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Leyton.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Leyton I like with open areas and railway links nearby, however it only has 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Leyton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?
Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you may request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
I'm remortgaging my current home to a buy to let loan with Birmingham Midshires and intend to use the remaining equity as a deposit on another house. The location we are talking about is Leyton. Will your conveyancers be able to act for the two banks and link together the conveyances?
Make use of our comparison tool on this page to ensure that the lawyers are approved by both mortgage companies. Having checked that they are your conveyancer will be able to simultaneously deal with the two deals but you should have a chat with you conveyancer and make apparent your desired outcome and requirements.
My partner has recommend that I appoint his conveyancing solicitors in Leyton. Do I follow his advice?
There are no two ways about it it’s preferable to find a conveyancing solicitor is to seek referrals from friends or relatives who have used the firm that you are are thinking of instructing.
I am looking at a couple of apartments in Leyton both have in the region of 50 years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Leyton is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the salability of the property. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Leyton conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Leyton. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the premium.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Leyton premises is 12 Nutfield Road in July 2014. the Tribunal judged that the price to be paid by the applicants for the freehold interest should be £19,572 This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 72.02 years.