I require conveyancing for a flat in a fairly new development (five years old) in Shenfield. 95% of the flats are already sold. Is it really necessary to order neighbourhood searches for my conveyancing in Shenfield?
If you getting a loan, your lender will insist on some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Shenfield conveyancing searches are optional. No doubt your conveyancer, will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have the searches done, but he or she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you choose to instruct your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or ask you to appoint a different lawyer for your conveyancing in Shenfield.
This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as FTB of a ground floor flat in Shenfield. Do I pick up the keys to the house on the completion date from my solicitor? If so, I will instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Shenfield?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will arrange to send the purchase money to the seller's lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be called to receive the keys from the selling Agents and move into your new home. Usually this occurs between 1 and 3pm.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Nationwide. Shenfield conveyancing lawyers were appointed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Nationwide?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Nationwide completed the survey? Have you informed Nationwide as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Shenfield off the council. I have a mortgage agreed with Co-operative. 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 Co-operative, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Co-operative conveyancing panel.
About to purchase a new build apartment in Shenfield. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Shenfield
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Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose?
I opted to have a survey carried out on a property in Shenfield prior to retaining conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. Our surveyor advised that some banks will refuse to grant a loan on this type of premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different instructions from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Shenfield. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Shenfield especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Shenfield.
I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Shenfield where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Shenfield conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
I inherited a 1 bedroom flat in Shenfield, conveyancing having been completed March 2000. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Shenfield with an extended lease are worth £201,000. The ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2089
With only 64 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £14,300 and £16,400 plus legals.
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 without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.
My wife and I are buying a first floor flat in Shenfield. At the point of instructing our conveyancer, they said that they were on all mainstream bank panels. Our mortgage broker contacted us today to advise that they are not on the Clydesdale approved list. If it turns out to be true, what should we do? Do we simply pick a different conveyancing practitioner that is on their panel or should we pay for dual representation, with Clydesdale selecting their own preferred solicitor.
If you are acquiring a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser’s lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a property lawyer has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the solicitor to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the conveyancer has to fulfill. Some building societies now require their panel firms to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should call Clydesdale and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on Clydesdale's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Shenfield solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.