My god-son is about to exchange on a new build apartment in Swindon with a mortgage from Virgin Money. His lawyer has said that there is a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
I am assisting my mother sell her flat in Swindon. Will the conveyancing solicitor arrange the energy assessment or it is for me to see to?
After the abolition of Home Packs, energy assessments was left as a required component of moving house. An EPC should be commissioned before the property is marketed. It is not as aspect of the sale process that law firms ordinarily organise. Where you are instructing a Swindon conveyancing solicitor they might be able to arrange energy performance certificates due to their relationships with long established local accredited person
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Aldermore. I assume I don't need a Swindon lawyer on the Aldermore panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Aldermore mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Aldermore mortgage from the register. Aldermore, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Aldermore has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Aldermore has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in March 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, HSBC are being difficult. The Swindon solicitor who is on the HSBC conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but HSBC are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do HSBC have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that HSBC have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why HSBC may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
I got the keys to my apartment on 1 April and the transaction details are still not registered. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in Swindon expressed confidence that it will be registered in a couple of weeks. Are properties in Swindon particularly slow to register?
There is nothing unique about conveyancing in Swindon registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can vary subject to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry must send notices to any other persons or bodies. Currently in the region of three quarters of such applications are fully addressed within 12 days but some can be subject to longer delays. Historically registration occurs after the purchaser has moved in to the premises therefore an expedited registration is not typically primary concern but if it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer could communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for an expedited registration.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and found one near me in Swindon I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 52 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Swindon suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
Should you need a home loan the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.
I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for my conveyancing in Swindon. I happened to chance upon a site which appears to be the perfect offering If it is possible to get all formalities done via web that would be preferable. Should I be wary? What should out be looking out for?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
Frank (my husband) and I may need to rent out our Swindon garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We used a Swindon conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?
A small minority of properties in Swindon do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.
I bought a 1st floor flat in Swindon, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Swindon with a long lease are worth £190,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2087
You have 62 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £17,100 and £19,800 plus legals.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.