I am need of leasehold conveyancing for an apartment in a fairly new development (6 years built) in Swindon. Almost all the flats are already sold. Do I need carry out the neighbourhood searches as part of conveyancing in Swindon?
If you getting a loan, your mortgage company will require some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then Swindon conveyancing searches are optional. No doubt your conveyancer, will ’encourage’, perhaps in the strongest possible terms, that you should not go ahead without searches, but he or she is duty bound in this regard. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you insist that your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or it may be necessary to instruct a new lawyer for your conveyancing in Swindon.
We see that you have a search directory listing firms on the Principality conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I appoint them for our own conveyancing in Swindon?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Principality conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Swindon.
Do I have to pop into the offices of the solicitor to sign the legal charge? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Swindon so that I can attend their offices when needed.
Whereas this was necessary twenty years ago, the vast majority banks no longer require their conveyancing panel lawyer to witness the mortgagors signature. It will still be necessary for you to hand over identification documents and there are still manifest benefits to choosing a locally based practitioner, in your situation a conveyancing solicitor in Swindon.
My wife and I own a semi-detached Victorian property in Swindon. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and National Westminster Bank. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the matching property. Is it worth asking National Westminster Bank to clarify?
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 owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Swindon and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the position with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.
I am buying a new build flat in Swindon. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.
Here are examples of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Swindon
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Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. Please supply a car parking plan. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry.
I work for a long established estate agent office in Swindon where we see a number of flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Swindon conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.
I purchased a 1st floor flat in Swindon, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable properties in Swindon with an extended lease are worth £216,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2095
With 70 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.