I am the registered owner of a freehold residence in Nayland but nevertheless pay rent, why is this and what is this?
It’s unusual for properties in Nayland and has limited impact for conveyancing in Nayland but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for hundreds of years, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.
Old rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence after 2037 is to be extinguished.
The Nayland conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Nayland have suddenly closed. They were on acting for me because I needed a solicitor on the RBS conveyancing panel and my previous Nayland lawyer was not. I paid them 275 plus VAT on account. What are my options?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the RBS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to help.
How does conveyancing in Nayland differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Nayland contact us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is ready to move into. This is because builders in Nayland typically purchase the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Nayland or who has acted in the same development.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £305k and identified one close by in Nayland I like with open areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 51 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Nayland suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner 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 existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.
I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor for purchase conveyancing in Nayland. I happened to discover a site which appears to be the perfect offering If there is a chance to get all this stuff completed via phone that would be ideal. Do I need to be wary? What are the potential pitfalls?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
I work for a busy estate agency in Nayland where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Nayland conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 purchaser.
Nayland Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying
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Who are the managing agents? Most Nayland leasehold flats will have a service bill for maintenance of the building invoiced by the freeholder. Should you buy the property you will have to pay this liability, usually in instalments throughout the year. This may differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. In all probability there will be a rentcharge to be met yearly, ordinarily this is not a large figure, say about £50-£100 but you should to enquire as on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. Best to be warned if a new roof is being installed or some other significant cost is pending to be shared by the leasehold owners and may well materially increase the the service charges or result in a one off invoice.