The owners of the house we are hoping to buy are using a conveyancing solicitor in Northwood who has suggested a exclusivity contract with a payment two thousand pounds. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?
This type of contract is not the norm in Northwood, conveyancers are often inclined to veer clients away from them as they detract from focusing on the main conveyancing focus and if you end up losing your deposit then the solicitor at best left with an upset client and at worst a litigious one. In addition, there is no guarantee that just because the owner has entered into an exclusivity contract they will sell to you. They may breach the agreement if they receive sufficient incentive to do so because a wronged claimant with the benefit of a exclusivitycontract will still be duty bound to show losses as a consequence of the breach and this may not equate the extra amount that the owner may secure by breaching the contract, however morally shameful the behaviour is.
The Northwood conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my purchase in Northwood have suddenly shut down. I chose them because I had to have a solicitor on the Nottingham conveyancing panel and my family Northwood lawyer was not. I paid them £170 in advance. What are my options?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know 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 should appoint new lawyers that are on the Nottingham 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 should be in a position to help.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Northwood is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Northwood are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Northwood you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Northwood may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
Is it possible to switch solicitor as I have to retain one who is on the Accord Mortgages Ltd conveyancing panel. I had appointed a high street conveyancing solicitor in Northwood round the corner but he is not approved by Accord Mortgages Ltd
We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in Northwood on the Accord Mortgages Ltd panel. Please note that the conveyancers that we work with do not pay us commission if you instruct them and are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Northwood. Using search facility on this website, you can compare costs for conveyancing solicitors in Northwood and throughout England and Wales.
I've recently bought a leasehold property in Northwood. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I am the registered owner of a first floor flat in Northwood. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum payable for the purchase of the freehold?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Northwood conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Northwood residence is Flats 8, 11 and 15 Craigmore Court 46 Murray Road in December 2013. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 8 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,438 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenants of Flat 11 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,791 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 15 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,638 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . This case related to 3 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 71 years.
We own a leasehold flat in Northwood. Conveyancing was completed in 2011. I have heard that I should not let the the remaining lease term to get too low. What is the reasoning?
Northwood residential long term leases are for a fixed period - often 99 years when they started. However a significant flats in Northwood were constructed or converted in the 70’s80’s and so such leases now have under eighty years unexpired. That may sound like a long time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders generally require leases to have a minimum of 75 years remaining to adequate security. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are nearing eighty years. To maximise your property value you should be thinking about whether or not to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. You should note that there are strong financial reasons to doing so before the lease reaches even eighty years as when the lease falls below 80 years the amount you have to pay to extend starts to get a lot more expensive.