My lawyer has uncovered a a problem with the lease for the apartment we are purchasing in Smithfield. The other side have put forward defective title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will pay for it. Our property lawyer has advised that he must check that the bank is willing to move forward with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the mortgage company are the client. Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the lender can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your property lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
Completed the sale of my flat in Smithfield last July yet the purchaser is e-mailing daily complaining that their solicitor needs to hear from mine. What are the post completion sale legalities following completion?
Post completion of your sale your conveyancer should forward the transfer deeds and all additional paperwork to the buyer’s solicitors. Depending on the transaction, your conveyancer must also evidence that the home loan has been redeemed to the purchasers solicitors. There is unlikely to be post completion requirements peculiar conveyancing in Smithfield.
My house in Smithfield is up for sale and I have a buyer. Will the conveyancing practitioner need to be on the RBS conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the RBS conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their panel criteria fairly frequently currently.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Smithfield?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Smithfield. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
We are four weeks into a freehold purchase having been recommend to conveyancers by the selling agent to execute conveyancing in Smithfield. We are not happy. Can you help me find new conveyancers?
They would need to be very poor to suggest replacing them. Has your loan offer been generated? If so you need to inform them of the new contact details and have the loan are issued to the new lawyers. Your conveyancer needs to be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid added costs and complications. So that should be your starting point. The find a solicitor tool should assist you in finding a lender approved conveyancer for your home move in Smithfield
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Smithfield both have in the region of fifty years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Smithfield is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the value of the premises. 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 residence 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 Smithfield conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend 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 the agreed 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 inherited a 1 bedroom flat in Smithfield, conveyancing formalities finalised 3 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding properties in Smithfield with over 90 years remaining are worth £197,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2081
With 55 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £31,400 and £36,200 plus costs.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.