I chose a high street firm for our conveyancing in St Davids recently. After carefully reading the Terms I seewe are on the hook for charges even if the dealdoes not proceed. Should I go with them or appoint a web based solicitor practice promoting no completion no charge conveyancing in St Davids?
It is usually a trade off in that if "No Completion No Fee" is advertised then the conveyancing charges will tend to be be uplifted to offset the transactions that abort. Do bear in mind that such offerings tend not to protect you from expenditure for instance St Davids conveyancing search fees.
About to place a bid on a leasehold apartment in St Davids. The selling agents tell me that it is standard for flats in St Davids to have less than 75 years unexpired on the lease. I am getting a mortgage with The Mortgage Works. Will the property be mortgageable given that the lease has Seventy One years unexpired.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are getting a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 18/1/2026 the requirements read as follows :
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 70 years
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 70 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn ground rent (annual rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any new build properties completed but not sold pre 30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the lease conforms to the above guidance
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years
LEASE EXTENSIONS
We require all lease extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to the Issuing Office
Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
I require fast conveyancing in St Davids as I am faced with pressure to exchange contracts in less than 2 weeks. A home loan is not required. Is it possible to avoid the conveyancing searches to save fees and time?
If.Given you are not obtaining a home loan you have the choice not to have searches carried out although no conveyancer would suggest that you don't. Drawing on our experience of conveyancing in St Davids the following are instances of what can show up and therefore affect market value: Refused Planning Applications, Overdue Fees, Overdue Grants, Railway Schemes,...
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in last month in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. St Davids is the location of the property. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in St Davids are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside St Davids you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in St Davids may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
In my capacity as executor for the will of my grandfather I am disposing of a house in Swansea but reside in St Davids. My lawyer (based 250 kilometers awayhas requested that I execute a stat dec ahead of the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing lawyer in St Davids to attest and place their company stamp on the document?
Technically speaking you are not likely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are located in St Davids
Our bank agreed in principle to issue us a mortgage. We have retained a reputable conveyancer in St Davids last week. A couple of hours ago, our broker contacted us saying that the mortgage company said that we cannot use our solicitor as they aren't on their panel. As FTB's, we had no idea that the bank had some control over our choice Is this allowed?
You are at liberty to choose any property lawyer you wish to select for your conveyancing in St Davids nevertheless if your bank aren't happy with them you will have to incur additional cost so the bank can appoint their own conveyancer too. On occasion it is conceivable that your preferred conveyancing firm to get included on to the bank panel. You can use web-based tools including lenderpanel.com to find a conveyancing solcitor in St Davids on the lender panel. You can go into your high street mortgage company branch in St Davids. They will know some good conveyancing solicitors in St Davids on the approved list.