We were just about to sign contracts for a semi detached house in Torrington. We have hit a stumbling block. Our mortgage offer with The Mortgage Works expires on 15/1/2026 but the vendors are insisting on a completion date of 19/1/2026. Is it possible to extend the mortgage expiry date?
The person best placed to address this issue is your solicitors who will hopefully determine whether they better off negotiating with the mortgage broker, vendor’s lawyers, estate agents or conceivably all parties given the circumstances your conveyancing to date.
My brother-in-law has suggested I instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Torrington. I need to find out whether they are on the Santander approved list of lawyers. Could you assist?
You should e-mail your solicitor and ask them whether they are on the lender panel. Otherwise you should call Santander who may be able to assist.
We are planning on selling our home in Torrington and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. Any local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the buyers used a national conveyancing outfit rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Torrington. We have lived in Torrington for many years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to get clarification that there is no issue.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing firm already. Are they able to advise? You must check with 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 life insurance to cover that same illness)
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Torrington ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. The surveyor has said that some banks will refuse to grant a mortgage on this type of property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements for example to Nationwide. If you contact 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 Torrington. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Torrington from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Torrington can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ conveyancers. If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Torrington leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance. If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy formality and delays many a Torrington conveyancing deal. If a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity. Some Torrington leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly 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 buyers or their solicitors.
Torrington Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider before buying
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What prohibitions are contained in the Torrington Lease? Where a Torrington lease has fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are content with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most Torringtonlease extensions you will be required to have owned the residence for a couple of years before you are eligible to carry out a lease extension. How is the lease structured?
I own a leasehold flat in Torrington. Conveyancing was finished in five years ago. I have read on numerous consumer forums that I should not let the the remaining lease term to get too low. Why is that a problem?
Torrington leasehold properties are for a prescribed term - normally ninety nine years when they started. However a significant flats in Torrington were built or converted in the 70’s80’s and so these leases now have less than eighty years remaining. That may sound like a long time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage companies tend to require leases to have at least 75 years remaining to adequate security. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are getting close to seventy five years. To increase the marketability of your property you should be considering whether or not to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. Furthermore advantages to doing so before the lease reaches even 80 years as when the lease is less than eighty years the amount you have to pay to extend starts to increase.