Our nephew is about to exchange on a house that has just been built in Louth with a home loan from Clydesdale. His conveyancer has said that there is a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Clydesdale conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Louth? Why is this being asked of me?
To satisfy the Money Laundering Regulations any Louth conveyancing firm will require evidence of your identity in all conveyancing matters. This is normally dealt with by provision of a passport and an original bank statement or utility bill showing your correct address.
In accordance with Money Laundering Regulations, property lawyers are duty bound to check not simply the identity of conveyancing clients but also the source of the money that they receive in respect of any matter. An unwillingness to disclose this may result in your conveyancer cancelling their relationship with you, as clearly this will cause a conflict between the set Regulations and a refusal to disclose.
Your property lawyers will have an obligation to make a disclosure to the relevant authorities should they believe that any amounts received by them may contravene the Money Laundering Regulations.
About to place a bid on a leasehold property in Louth. The estate agents say that it is the norm for flats in Louth to have less than 75 years left on the lease. I am taking out a mortgage with The Mortgage Works. Is this going to be a problem if the lease has 72 years left.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 29/1/2025 the requirements read as follows :
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 70 years
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 70 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn ground rent (annual rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any new build properties completed but not sold pre 30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the lease conforms to the above guidance
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years
LEASE EXTENSIONS
We require all lease extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to the Issuing Office
My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Louth. Conveyancing is required. What are my next steps?
Given that you have now legally committed yourself to purchase you must choose a conveyancing solicitor quickly as you are facing a pending deadline in which to complete the property. An auction property should have a bespoke auction set of papers. This should include most,if not all of the paperwork that your solicitor requires. Where you are dealing with leasehold premises the conveyancing papers should provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation relating to leasehold premises. You need to hand this to the lawyer working for you ASAP. You also need to ensure that you have funds in order to complete on the on the contractual date .
I am the single beneficiary of my late father’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Louth. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in December. I want to move. I understand that there is a CML six month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship may be considered the same way as though I had purchased the property in December. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook instructs conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you may be caught by that. Some mortgage companies would take a pragmatic view as this provision is primarily there to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the wholesaling and assigning of property.
We previously instructed conveyancing lawyers located in Louth on the Barclays solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me an additional sum for handling the Barclays mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Barclays?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancer is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not set by Barclays but by your Louth solicitor. Plenty of firms on the Barclays panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
I have todaybecome aware that Stirling Law have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Louth for a purchase of a leasehold flat 10 months ago. How can I establish that my home is in my name in the name of the previous owner?
The quickest method to check if the premises is registered to you, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Louth conveyancing specialists.
Been on the hunt for a property lawyer for freehold sale conveyancing in Louth. We are selling, uncomplicated no mortgage to redeem, no rush, no onward purchase. Received an estimate from a solicitor for nine hundred pounds excluding VAT which is a little expensive given that its so straightforward. Is it possible to find less expensive fees for conveyancing in Louth?
Given that it’s a sale only, £425 + VAT should be about the cheapest for sale conveyancing in Louth.