My husband and I are intent on acquiring a ground floor flat in Newcastle upon Tyne. My Solicitor is not on the lender solicitor list. Is it possible for me to continue with my Newcastle upon Tyne conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the mortgage company list of approved lawyers?
You will need to use a lawyer to complete the formalities if you take out a loan to buy your property. The lawyer will carry out all the appropriate investigations on the property, make sure that you’re registered as proprietor and ensure that all the required mortgage paperwork is in place. One may appoint a Newcastle upon Tyne conveyancer of your choice. Nevertheless, if the lawyer selected is not a member of the bank approved list further fees will arise as separate legal representation will be need by the mortgage company. Conveyancing panel applications may be submitted, so where your lawyer has not in the past sought membership they can do so.
Our son is buying a new build apartment in Newcastle upon Tyne with a home loan from Kent Reliance. His conveyancer 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 form is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
I am assisting my step-mother sell her property in Newcastle upon Tyne. Will the solicitor arrange an energy performance certificate or it is for the seller to coordinate?
After the demise of Home Packs, energy assessments was retained a mandatory part of selling a property. An energy performance certificate must be commissioned in advance of the property being advertised. It is not a task that law firms normally organise. Where you are instructing a Newcastle upon Tyne conveyancing lawyer they may be able to arrange energy performance certificates given their relationships with long established Newcastle upon Tyne providers
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Newcastle upon Tyne. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. How do I make a complaint?
Most lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service with full details of your complaint.
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 Newcastle upon Tyne solicitor - who is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Lloyds will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Lloyds 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 solicitor 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 Newcastle upon Tyne postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Lloyds, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The deeds to our property are lost. The lawyers who did the conveyancing in Newcastle upon Tyne 5 years ago are no longer around. What are my next steps?
Gone are the days when you need to have the physical deeds to evidence that you are the registered proprietor of land or premises, as the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one close by in Newcastle upon Tyne I like with amenity areas and railway links nearby, however it only has 61 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Newcastle upon Tyne for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
If you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will likely be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.
I am looking at a couple of apartments in Newcastle upon Tyne which have in the region of forty five years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Newcastle upon Tyne is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the value of the property. For most buyers and banks, leases with less than eighty 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 premises 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 Newcastle upon Tyne 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.
I purchased a split level flat in Newcastle upon Tyne, conveyancing was carried out in 2002. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Newcastle upon Tyne with over 90 years remaining are worth £211,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2093
You have 67 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as legals.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.