We are about to exchange contracts for a semi detached house in St Mellons. We have hit a stumbling block. The loan offer with Barclays Direct expires on 28/4/2025 but the owners are suggesting a completion date of 30/4/2025. Is it possible to extend the mortgage expiry date?
The person best placed to address this issue is your solicitors who is in a position to determine whether they should be discussing with the mortgage broker, seller’s solicitors, estate agents or indeed all parties taking into account the circumstances your transaction as of today.
What is the first thing I need to know about purchase conveyancing in St Mellons?
Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in St Mellons and elsewhere in Cardiff is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of opportunity for conflict between you and other parties involved in the ownership transfer. For example, the vendor, estate agent and even potentially the mortgage company. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in St Mellons an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE party in the transaction whose role it is to protect your best interests and to protect you.
There is a definite ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone has to be at fault for the process being so protracted. You your first instinct should be to trust your conveyancer above all other parties in the home moving process.
My wife and I own a terraced Georgian house in St Mellons. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Birmingham Midshires. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in St Mellons and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the position with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.
How does conveyancing in St Mellons differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in St Mellons come to us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in St Mellons tend to buy the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in St Mellons or who has acted in the same development.
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in St Mellons where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local St Mellons conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?
As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence 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 needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 purchaser.
I own a ground floor flat in St Mellons, conveyancing was carried out 6 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in St Mellons with over 90 years remaining are worth £185,000. The ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease ceases on 21st October 2086
With 61 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £19,000 and £22,000 plus legals.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.
We are in the process of acquiring a flat in St Mellons. Could our conveyancer have the amount we are are purchasing for private from the likes of Rightmove. How could this be done?
HM Land Registry as a matter of law required to disclose price sold information on a register of the title for domestic properties nationwide which includes premises in St Mellons. The register of title is a public document, so HMLR would be breaching their statutory duty excluded specific homes such as your one in St Mellons.
You can ask HM Land Registry to hide the price paid data however the answer would be a No.