Me and my partner are intending to buy a 3 bedroom flat in Portland with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Portland conveyancer, but the mortgage company says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel conveyancing practices or retain our Portland conveyancing practitioner as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to represent them. This feels very unfair; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms 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 Portland conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
We are planning to buy with Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. We have called around locally but cant to find a Portland conveyancing firm on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society panel. Please you assist?
You should make the most of the search tool on this page. Please choose the building society and type Portland or your preferred area and you will discover numerous solicitors located in Portland or by proximity to you.
four months have gone by since my purchase conveyancing in Portland completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Portland prior to appointing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor has said that some lenders will not grant a loan on this type of home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions from Nationwide. If you e-mail 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 accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Portland. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
What does commercial conveyancing in Portland cover?
Portland conveyancing for business premises covers a wide range of services, offered by regulated solicitors, relating to business property. For instance, this type of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more commonly, the transfer of existing leases or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial mortgages and the termination of leases.
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Portland with the purpose of expediting the sale process?
- Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Portland can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors. If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved. A minority of Portland leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Portland home move. If a new share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Portland leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you dont have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.
I own a 1 bedroom flat in Portland, conveyancing having been completed 5 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in Portland with over 90 years remaining are worth £179,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2081
You have 57 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £26,600 and £30,800 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.