We are a couple about to sign contracts for a property in Needham Market. We encountered a snag. The mortgage offer with Britannia expires on 13/5/2026 but the sellers are insisting on a completion date of 15/5/2026. Can one prolong the loan offer?
The person best placed to address this concern is your conveyancer who will determine if he or she is should be discussing with the mortgage company, seller’s solicitors, selling agents or possibly all parties based on what has happend in your house move to date.
My husband and I wish to acquire a newbuild apartment in Needham Market with a mortgage from Santander.We like our Needham Market conveyancing solicitor but Santander informed us his firm is not on their "panel". We have to appoint a Santander panel solicitor or keep our high street solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Santander use our lawyer?
No, not really. The loan offered to you is subject to its various provisions, one of which will be that lawyers needs to be on the Santander conveyancing panel. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Santander
My colleague advised me that where I am buying in Needham Market I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Needham Market conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Needham Market around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Needham Market Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Needham Market.
Me and my brother own a semi-detached Victorian property in Needham Market. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Nationwide Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be 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 Needham Market and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the position with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the work.
I am buying a new build apartment in Needham Market. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Needham Market
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Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision.
We are in the process of selling our flat in Needham Market. Conveyancing is fine but we are being charged a fortune by the freeholder. So far we have forked out £237 for a leasehold management information and then a further £118 for supplemental queries raised by the purchaser's conveyancer.
Neither you or your lawyer will have any say over the extent of the charges for this information however the typical fee for the information for Needham Market leasehold property is £350. For Needham Market conveyancing deals it is customary for the seller to cover the costs. The landlord or their agents are not duty bound to answer such questions although many will be content to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Regretfully there is no statute that mandates fixed charges for administrative tasks. There is no set time frame by which they are obliged to provide answers.