Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Ongar is more expensive?
Ongar leasehold properties involve far more paperwork than a freehold purchase, and therefore takes more time to examine and advise upon.Conveyancing will involve the lease having to be checked which is usually a lengthy document, queries raised to ensure that the covenants and conditions have been observed. If it is a flat there will be a management company in existence and the accounts of this will need to be checked and enquiries raised to ensure it is operating efficiently and that all monies due have been paid by the Seller to the company and if not ensuring that money is paid up to date or the appropriate undertakings obtained.
My uncle passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Ongar. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £5k. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Barclays, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Given you intend to re-mortgage then Barclays will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Barclays conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Barclays mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Ongar. Conveyancing is needed. What are my next steps?
Now that you are legally committed yourself to purchase you must retain a conveyancing practitioner soon as you will have a fast approaching a drop dead date to complete the property. An auction property should have a bespoke auction pack. This will likely include most,if not all of the paperwork that your lawyer requires. In the case of leasehold property the auction papers may contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing paperwork relating to a leasehold property. You should give this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible. You also need to ensure that that you have the requisite funding in order to complete on the on the contractual date .
I have paid off my mortgage with RBS. I assume I don't need a Ongar property lawyer on the RBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your RBS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the RBS mortgage from the register. RBS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where RBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- RBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I had an offer accepted on an apartment in Ongar on 26/8/2025, valuation was booked 2 days later, all came back fine. Property lawyer appointed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Barclays and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Barclays to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Barclays conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I decided to have a survey completed on a house in Ongar before appointing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor has said that some banks may refuse to grant a mortgage on such a property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Nationwide. If you call us we can look into this further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Ongar. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I am 3 weeks into a leasehold purchase having been directed to solicitors by the high street agent to perform conveyancing in Ongar. I am not happy. Could you you assist me in finding new lawyers?
A conveyancer would need to be very bad to suggest diss instructing them. Has the mortgage offer been generated? If so you must advise them of the new contact details and ensure the loan are re-sent. The conveyancer should be on the lenders approved list to avoid escalating charges and complications. That should be your starting point. The search tool should help you find a lender approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Ongar
Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Ongar. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.
Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Ongar - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
I acquired a basement flat in Ongar, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent flats in Ongar with over 90 years remaining are worth £180,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2084
With only 59 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £20,900 and £24,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.