About to place a bid on a leasehold apartment in Sevenoaks. The property agents assure me that it is normal for flats in Sevenoaks to have less than 75 years left on the lease. I am taking out a loan with Tesco Bank. Is this going to be acceptable if the lease has 69 years left.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Tesco Bank have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 23/1/2025 the requirements read as follows :
A friend advised me that in buying a property in Sevenoaks there could be various restrictions preventing external alterations to the property. Is this right?
We are aware of anumerous of properties in Sevenoaks which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Sevenoaks should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Sevenoaks. I have a mortgage agreed with Barclays. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Barclays, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Barclays conveyancing panel.
My offer was accepted on an apartment in Sevenoaks on 6/12/2024, valuation was booked 3 days after, received a clean bill of health. Solicitor instructed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Skipton and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Skipton 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 Skipton to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Skipton conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
I'm buying my first flat in Sevenoaks with a loan from Virgin Money. The sellers refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The sale representative advised me not disclose to my solicitor about this side-deal as it will put at risk my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and found one round the corner in Sevenoaks I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, however it only has 52 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Sevenoaks in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be an issue. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
I'm refinancing my existing house to a BTL mortgage with Halifax and intend to use the remaining equity as a down payment on further house. The neighborhood we are interested in is Sevenoaks. Will your conveyancers be able to act for the two lenders and link together the conveyances?
Make use of our search tool on this page to check that the lawyers are on the relevant lender panels. On the basis that they are your lawyer should be able to connect the two transactions but you should talk with you lawyer and make clear your desired outcome and requirements.
The estate agent has recommended their property lawyer for the conveyancing in Sevenoaks - Surely it’s advisable to just use them?
It is worth checking if the selling agent is recommending a conveyancing practitioner or introducing to a conveyancing practitioner. There are plenty of Sevenoaks estate agents who recommend two or three Sevenoaks conveyancing firms purely based on those lawyers offering a great service.