My husband and I are acquiring a newly built apartment in Sudbury and my solicitor is advising me that she has to the bank to reveal incentives from the builder. The Estate Agents are hassling me to sign contracts and I have no desire to delay matters. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancing practitioner. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
I am about to put an offer on a leasehold apartment in Sudbury. The property agents advise that it is the norm for flats in Sudbury to have less than 75 years left on the lease. I am getting a mortgage with The Mortgage Works. Is this going to be a problem if the lease has 70 years unexpired.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are obtaining 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 6/8/2025 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.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Santander, do Sudbury property lawyers face a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any lender fees to register on their panel, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
About to purchase apartment in Sudbury. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Clydesdale 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 Sudbury property lawyer is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel.
After what seems like an age I have had an offer on a flat in Sudbury accepted, but there is a chain. The vendors have put an offer on a property, but it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other flats in the pipeline. I have selected a local conveyancing solicitor in Sudbury. What do I do now? When should I get the mortgage application with Barclays started?
It is understandable to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, Sudbury conveyancing search fees, etc). The first course of action is to ensure that your property lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Regarding the next stages this very much depends on the circumstances of your transaction, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. In a rising market the majority of home buyers will apply for the mortgage with Barclays and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their conveyancing practitioner to press on with searches.
Me and my brother own a semi-detached Victorian house in Sudbury. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Bank of Ireland. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. Is it worth asking Bank of Ireland to clarify?
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for 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 Sudbury 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 purchasers. You can also check the position with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one near me in Sudbury I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Sudbury suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage that many years will be an issue. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this.
I was advised by a few selling agents in Sudbury to get a quote from a property lawyer on your site. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to market your lawyers rather than another?
We refuse to give any referral fee for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We found it would be just too difficult a fee as home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.