I plan on purchasing residence in Stafford. My Conveyancer has never been on on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. Is it possible for me to continue with my Stafford conveyancing solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the mortgage company list of approved lawyers?
Your options include
- Proceed with your chosen Stafford conveyancer but your bank will no doubt retain a conveyancing practitioner from their approved list. The net result is additional charges together with potential frustration.
- Choose a new property lawyer to conduct the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the bank conveyancing panel.
- Appeal to your solicitor to attempt to join the mortgage company panel
My wife and I own a 4 bedroom Victorian house in Stafford. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Halifax. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the matching property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You should 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Stafford 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 lenders. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who completed the work.
How does conveyancing in Stafford differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Stafford come to us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is finished. This is because new home sellers in Stafford usually acquire 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 property lawyers 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in Stafford or who has acted in the same development.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Stafford prior to instructing conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor has said that some lenders may refuse to give a loan on a flying freehold premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. If you call us we can investigate further via the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Stafford. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
As co-executor for the estate of my grandfather I am disposing of a house in Swansea but live in Stafford. My conveyancer (approximately 200 kilometers awayhas requested that I execute a stat dec before the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing lawyer in Stafford who can witness this legal document for me?
strictly speaking you are not likely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are located in Stafford
I am employed by a busy estate agency in Stafford where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Stafford conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as 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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
An alternative approach is 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.
Stafford Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying
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Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the tenants? The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the leaseholders have control and even though a managing agent is often employed where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.