We are about to complete buying a property in Victoria Park but as a result of wreckage from a small fire at the property I have was able negotiate reparation from the current proprietors of £2k by way of a deduction in the price. I had intended this to be dealt with as part of the conveyancing process yet RBS will not agree to this. Should they have been informed?
Your property lawyer being on the RBS conveyancing panel is duty bound to disclose to RBS of any amendments to the sale price. If you prohibit your conveyancer to report the price change to RBS then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, RBS and you would have to appoint a new lawyer for your conveyancing in Victoria Park.
About to place a bid on a leasehold property in Victoria Park. The property agents say that it is usual for flats in Victoria Park to have less than 75 years left on the lease. I am expecting a mortgage with Nationwide Building Society. Is this going to be a problem if the lease has 70 years unexpired.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are getting a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Nationwide Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 8/6/2026 the requirements read as follows :
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years.
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period is less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 55 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial, etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined)
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn Ground Rent (Annual Rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any New Build properties completed but not sold pre-30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the Lease conforms to the above guidance.
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years.
Lease Extensions
We require all Lease Extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to Issuing Office.
Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
Should commercial conveyancing searches reveal planned roadworks that could affect a commercial land in Victoria Park?
Its becoming the norm that commercial conveyancing solicitors in Victoria Park will conduct a SiteSolutions Highways report as it reduces the time that conveyancers spend in investigating accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Victoria Park. The report sets out definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Victoria Park.
For each commercial conveyancing transaction in Victoria Park it is crucial to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. Failure to identify developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately could result in delays to Victoria Park commercial conveyancing deals as well as present a risk to future plans for the site. These searches are not ordered for domestic conveyancing in Victoria Park.
I opted to have a survey completed on a house in Victoria Park prior to appointing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor advised that some banks may refuse to grant a loan on a flying freehold property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. If you call us we can check via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Victoria Park. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Victoria Park to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years left on my lease in Victoria Park. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Victoria Park.
Victoria Park Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider before buying
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You should be aware if it is no more than 80 years it will impact the value of the property. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Victoria Parklease extensions you would need to own the property for 24 months in order to be eligible to extend the lease. Are there any major works on the horizon that could increase the service charges? What restrictions are contained in the Victoria Park Lease?
Would local authority consent be necessary to split a house into a couple of appartments in Victoria Park? This has occurred to a house adjacent to my home in Victoria Park and was ignorant of the conversion until it was complete.
Planning consent is needed for converting a single dwelling in Victoria Park into apartments but probably not for converting back to single dwelling-house so, in answer to your query, yes,a it is needed.