About to place a bid on a leasehold apartment in Upney. The property agents assure me that it is normal for flats in Upney to have less than 75 years remaining. I am obtaining a loan with Bank of Ireland. Is this going to be a problem if the lease has Seventy One years unexpired.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are securing a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Bank of Ireland have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 4/7/2025 the requirements read as follows :
Is it correct that all Upney CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel?
A selection of banks and building societies now use CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to join their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.
I have a mortgage with Virgin Money for my property in Upney. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Virgin Money?
Virgin Money must be informed of your intention before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Virgin Money’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Virgin Money directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Virgin Money conveyancing panel firm.
I was told three weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Co-operative. Is it usual for Co-operative to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Upney is approved on their conveyancing panel? Co-operative have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Co-operative to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
A friend recommended that if I am purchasing in Upney I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Upney conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Upney around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Upney Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Upney.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Upney?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Upney. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in Upney before retaining solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. The surveyor advised that some banks may refuse to issue a loan on a flying freehold house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you e-mail us we can look into this further via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Upney. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Upney to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
I happen to be an executor of my recently deceased parent's Will, with a bungalow in Upney which will be marketed. The bungalow is unregistered at the Land Registry and I'm advised that many estate agents will insist that it is done before they'll proceed. What's the procedure for this?
In the circumstances you refer to it seems advisable to seek to register in the names of the personal representative(s) as named in the probate and in their capacity as PRs. The Land Registry’s online guidance explains how to register for the first time and what is required re the deeds and forms. You would need to include and official copy of the probate as well and complete the form FR1 to refer to the PRs as the applicant.