I am buying a property in Upper Norwood. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Lloyds have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Lloyds your lawyer must check the conveyancing requirements contained in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Lloyds. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook stipulates minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancing practitioners are required to report to Lloyds where a lease does not meet these provisions. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not restricted to Upper Norwood.
I currently have a mortgage with RBS for my property in Upper Norwood. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform RBS?
Your original mortgage agreement with RBS will provide that you need their approval prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of RBS’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 RBS directly. You need not do this via a RBS conveyancing panel firm.
It is not clear whether my bank requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Upper Norwood building society branch on numerous occasions and was told it does not affect the mortgage offer and they would lend. My Upper Norwood conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they refuse to lend based on their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
Provided that the lawyer is on the lender panel, she or he must follow the CML Handbook specifications for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
I am planning on selling our home in Upper Norwood and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed land that was not decontaminated. Any local conveyancer would know this is not the case. For the life of me I don't know why the purchasers used a national conveyancing practice as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Upper Norwood. We have lived in Upper Norwood for three years we know of no issue. Do we contact our local Authority to get clarification that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. What do they say? You need to 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 health insurance to cover that same sickness)
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our home are lost. The solicitors who handled the conveyancing in Upper Norwood 10 years ago no longer exist. What are my next steps?
Nowadays there are duplicates made of almost everything, and your conveyancer should be aware exactly where to locate all the appropriate paperwork so you may buy or sell your property without any difficulty. Where duplicates are not available, your conveyancer may be able to arrange cover in the form of insurance or indemnities against future claims on your premises.
Just had an offer accepted on a new build flat in Upper Norwood. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Set out below are examples of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Upper Norwood
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The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. 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. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Upper Norwood in advance of retaining conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor has said that some lenders will refuse to give a mortgage on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements for example to Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Upper Norwood. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Upper Norwood to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
My husband and I may need to rent out our Upper Norwood ground floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Upper Norwood conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?
The lease dictates the relationship between the landlord and you the flat owner; in particular, it will indicate if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. The majority of leases in Upper Norwood do not contain subletting altogether – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the sublease.
I am the proprietor of a garden flat in Upper Norwood. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for a lease extension?
in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the LVT to calculate the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Upper Norwood residence is Flats 55, 67 & 70 Melbourne Court Anerley Road in July 2013. The tribunal calculated that the premium for the extended lease at £48,366.00 for at 55, and £88,329.00 for ats 67 and 70 combined. This case related to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 26.38 years.