My husband and I are planning to purchase a property in Nuneaton and are in fact using a Nuneaton conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. The Royal Bank of Scotland have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Nuneaton conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Nuneaton lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
It is 10 years ago since I purchased my house in Nuneaton. Conveyancing lawyers have just been retained on the sale but I am unable to locate the deeds. Is this a problem?
You need not be too concerned. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be with the mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the solicitor who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in most cases the title will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Nuneaton relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
A colleague recommended that where I am purchasing in Nuneaton I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Nuneaton conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Nuneaton around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Nuneaton Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Nuneaton.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and identified one round the corner in Nuneaton I like with open areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 61 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Nuneaton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this.
I today plan to offer on a house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have just been informed that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Nuneaton. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?
The majority of houses in Nuneaton are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Nuneaton so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Nuneaton conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’sconsent to carry out alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.
I invested in buying a split level flat in Nuneaton, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Nuneaton with over 90 years remaining are worth £227,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2098
With just 72 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus legals.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
The property lawyers undertaking our conveyancing in Nuneaton has sent documents to review that show the land is unregistered with epitome documents. Surely all property in Nuneaton are registered?
It is a rare occurrence indeed to find premises in Nuneaton not to be registered. An 'epitome' is basically a dossier of photocopies of documents affecting an unregistered title. Plenty of Nuneaton conveyancing solicitors will be able to handle this type of conveyancing but in the event that uncertainty reigns the usual proposition nowadays seems to be for the seller to deal with the registration formalities first and then sell - this will predictably result in a drawn-out conveyancing.