I purchased a freehold house in Sunderland but nevertheless pay rent, why is this and what is this?
It’s unusual for properties in Sunderland and has limited impact for conveyancing in Sunderland but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the creation of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.
Old rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence after 2037 will be dispensed with completely.
My house in Sunderland is up for sale and I have a purchaser. Will the solicitor need to be required to be on the RBS conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the RBS 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.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Sunderland with a loan from Clydesdale. The builders would not move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The sale representative told me not disclose to my conveyancer about this deal as it would impact my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.
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.
I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in Sunderland ahead of instructing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. The surveyor advised that some lenders tend not give a mortgage on a flying freehold house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different requirements for example to Halifax. If you call us we can look into this further with 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 Sunderland. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Sunderland to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
I am one month into a freehold purchase having been referred to solicitors by the estate agent to handle our conveyancing in Sunderland. We are not happy. Can you you assist me in finding new lawyers?
A solicitor would have to be really poor to suggest changing them. Has the mortgage been generated? In the event that it has you must inform them of the new lawyer and ensure the offer are issued to the new lawyers. Your solicitor ideally needs to be on the banks approved list to avoid supplemental charges and delays. So that should be your starting point. The find a solicitor tool should assist you in finding a lender approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Sunderland
How easy is it to change a solicitor as I need to find a Sunderland based one who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. Is it practical to instruct different lawyers?
If you haven't yet instructed a solicitor to do anything for you and have just received an estimate as to costs, you're perfectly free to choose a different solicitor to carry out your work for you. The best way is to get recommendations from friends or family who have actually used the solicitor or conveyancer in Sunderland that you're considering.