I have given 2 months notice to my current landlord and must vacate my let out apartment in Poundbury by 3/7/2025. Conveyancing on my purchase is underway. How realistic is it to complete in three weeks as I wish to avoid having to find temporary accommodation?
The normal practice is not to provide notice on a rental unless exchange of contracts has taken place. Assuming that you have not already done so, contact to your lawyer and urge them to they apply pressure on the sellers lawyers, try to an agreed time frame that everyone will look to achieve
Me and my brother own a 4 bedroom Edwardian house in Poundbury. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Santander. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same property. Is it worth asking Santander to clarify?
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Poundbury and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one round the corner in Poundbury I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Poundbury for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
If you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
I am using a search engine for the words cheap conveyancing in Poundbury it reveals numerous property lawyerslocally. How do I determine which is the suitable property lawyer for the sale of my house?
The ideal way of choosing the right conveyancer is via trusted recommendation, so seek the guidance of friends and family who have bought a property in Poundbury or the local estate agent or financial adviser. Fees for conveyancing in Poundbury differ, so it's advisable to obtain at least four quotes from different conveyancers. Dont forget to clarify that the costs are assured not to to be inflated.
Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Poundbury from the perspective of expediting the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Poundbury can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors. You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale. A minority of Poundbury leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly 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 buyers or their solicitors. If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a new share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a Poundbury conveyancing deal. If a new share is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible. If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.
Poundbury Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing
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What is the length of the lease? The answer will be important as a) areas could cause problems for the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the managing agents you will need to know about it How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments?
We have had DIP from Aldermore who suggested we could borrow up to £400k. At what point do we need to appoint a lawyer for conveyancing? Poundbury is where we are buying.
You can instruct a property lawyer now so that the lawyer can open the file so they can conduct the ID checks etc. If and when you wish them to start work they will seek a deposit normally approximately £225. That would normally be once you have the loan offer from your bank and survey report, nevertheless if you wish to speed matters you can start sooner even though you may be risking some expense.