My son-in-law is purchasing a house that has just been built in Ludlow with a mortgage from Nationwide. His solicitor has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?
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 Nationwide conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer 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 Nationwide conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
Can you point me to a directory of Leeds Building Society panel conveyancers in Ludlow on the Council of Mortgage Lender’s Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such facility on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association sites. Very few banks make their panel listings visible on the web. If you are in need of a Ludlow lawyer on the Leeds Building Society please use our tool.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Ludlow conveyancing practitioner having checked that they are on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Clydesdale will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Clydesdale 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. You may wish to consider appointing your own Ludlow surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Aldermore have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a property in Ludlow has been agreed to, what happens next?
The estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the conveyancing practitioners are on the bank’s panel). Contact Aldermore or your financial adviser and complete any relevant forms. Aldermore will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or seller to arrange an appointment. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately ten days for the mortgage offer to be issued. Aldermore will issue the offer to you and your property lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Ludlow.
I own a 4 bedroom Victorian property in Ludlow. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Chelsea Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the matching property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You need to assess 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Ludlow and other areas of 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 purchasers. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who carried out the work.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and identified one close by in Ludlow I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 49 years on the lease. There is not much else in Ludlow in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
Should you need a mortgage that many years will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
I am looking at a two apartments in Ludlow which have in the region of forty five years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Ludlow is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. For most buyers and mortgage companies, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. 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 Ludlow 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. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. 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.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Ludlow - A selection of Queries Prior to buying
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How much is the ground rent and service charge? It is important to be aware if redecorating or some other significant cost is anticipated to be shared between the leasehold owners and could well dramatically increase the the service costs or necessitate a specific invoice. It would be prudent to discover as much as you can regarding the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to practical issues like the upkeep of the common parts. Enquire of prospective neighbours what they think of their service. Finally, be sure you discover the dates that the maintenance fees are due to the managing agents and precisely what it includes.
My step-son is about to join the property ladder, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. After the seller agreed the offer on the flat we rang the lender to progress the mortgage application. We were disappointed to hear that mortgage companies do not accept all conveyancer, they must be on their panel, is this right?
Banks normally imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Ludlow property lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Probably not.