I am acquiring a newly constructed flat in Orpington and my lawyer is advising me that she has to the bank to reveal incentives from the builder. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to sign contracts and I have no desire to prolong matters. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your property lawyer. A precondition to being on a lender panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
My husband and I wish to acquire a 3 bedroom flat in Orpington with a mortgage from Alliance & Leicester .We like our Orpington conveyancing practitioner but Alliance & Leicester says she’s not listed on their approved list of member firms. We have to appoint a Alliance & Leicester panel lawyer or keep our high street solicitor and pay for a Alliance & Leicester panel lawyer to act for them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Alliance & Leicester use our lawyer?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its various provisions, a common one being that solicitors must be on the Alliance & Leicester approved list. Until recently, most mortgage companies had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could choose 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. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Alliance & Leicester
I got the keys to my apartment on 2 June and the transaction details is not yet registered. Need I be worried? My conveyancing solicitor in Orpington said it would be dealt with inside ten days. Are properties in Orpington particularly slow to register?
As far as conveyancing in Orpington registration is no quicker or slower than the rest of England and Wales. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can differ subject to the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry must send notices to any 3rd parties. As of today approximately 80% of such applications are fully addressed in less than three weeks but occasionally there can be extensive delays. Historically registration is effected once the buyer has moved in to the premises therefore 'speed' is not typically top priority but where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your solicitor should contact the land registry and explain the circumstances.
How does conveyancing in Orpington differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Orpington contact us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is built. This is because new home sellers in Orpington typically acquire the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Orpington or who has acted in the same development.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Orpington both have in the region of fifty years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Orpington is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the salability of the property. The majority of purchasers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive 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 a property 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 Orpington 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. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. 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 own a basement flat in Orpington. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum payable for the purchase of the freehold?
Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Orpington conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Orpington residence is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 50.57 years.
I own a leasehold flat in Orpington. Conveyancing was finished in 2009. I have been told that I should not allow the the remaining lease term to get too short. What is the reasoning?
Orpington leasehold properties are for a set period - normally just under one hundred years when they started. However a significant appartments in Orpington were built or converted 30 or more years ago and so these leases now have less than eighty years left to run. That may seem like plenty of time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders on the whole need leases to have at least seventy five years unexpired to be mortgageable. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are approaching seventy five years. To optimize the marketability of your property you should be considering whether to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. There are also strong financial reasons to taking action before the lease reaches even 80 years as when the lease falls below 80 years the amount to be paid to extend starts to escalate.