My apartment in Stilton is up for sale and I have a buyer. Will my lawyer have to be required to be on the UBS conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the UBS 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 at the moment.
My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Stilton. Conveyancing is necessary. What are my next steps?
Having legally committed yourself to purchase you will need to find a conveyancing solicitor as a matter of priority as you are faced with a fast approaching a fixed date to complete the conveyancing. An auction property will ordinarily have an associated legal set of papers. This will include most,if not all of the paperwork that your solicitor requires. Where you are dealing with leasehold property the conveyancing papers may provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork pertinent to a leasehold property. You must hand this to the lawyer working for you at the earliest opportunity. You also need to ensure that you have funds in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
It is unclear whether my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called into my local Stilton building society branch on a couple of occasions and was informed it wasn't an issue and they will lend. My Stilton conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they will not lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. I have no idea who is right.
Provided that the lawyer is on the lender panel, she or he must adhere to the CML Handbook requirements for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
About to purchase apartment in Stilton. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Skipton conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Stilton property lawyer is on the Skipton conveyancing panel.
We are downsizing from our home in Stilton and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. A local lawyer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the buyers used an internet conveyancing outfit rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Stilton. We have lived in Stilton for many years we know of no issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain confirmation need.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same ailment)
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Stilton?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Stilton. 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…’
I am purchasing a new build house in Stilton with a mortgage from Platform Home Loans Ltd. The sellers would not move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep advised me not reveal to my solicitor about the deal as it may adversely affect my loan with Platform Home Loans Ltd. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Stilton with the aim of expediting the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Stilton can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ solicitors. You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale. If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved. Some Stilton leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Stilton conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.
Stilton Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying
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If a Stilton lease has no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the apartment. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. For most Stiltonlease extensions you will need to own the property for two years before you are entitled to extend the lease. How much is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the property? Make sure you discover if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in in a block in Stilton. If you love the apartmentin Stilton but your cat is not allowed to move with you then you will be presented with a difficult decision.