My wife and I are acquiring a brand new duplex in Wallasey and my lawyer is informing me that she is duty bound to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the seller. I am on a tight deadline to exchange contracts and I would rather not prolong matters. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a mortgage company panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
What happens if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Lloyds Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Wallasey?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
A relative suggested that where I am buying in Wallasey I should 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 Wallasey conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Wallasey around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Wallasey Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Wallasey.
I'm buying a new build house in Wallasey benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The sale representative told me not inform my solicitor about this extras as it will impact my mortgage with Nationwide Building Society. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I have just started marketing my basement flat in Wallasey. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the maintenance contribution as normal because all rents and service charges should be allotted on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Wallasey - Sample of Queries before buying
-
Where a Wallasey lease has less than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the apartment. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the premises for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease. How much is the ground rent and service charge? Most Wallasey leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the building invoiced by the freeholder. Where you acquire the flat you will have to meet this liability, usually quarterly during the year. This could be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal grounds. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a significant figure, say about £25-£75 but you need to enquire as occasionally it could be prohibitively expensive.
There are numerous properties in Wallasey on private roads. We are purchasing such a property. Are there any advantages to buying a house on a privately owned road?
Wallasey conveyancing firms will be familiar with dealing homeson unadopted roads. The conveyancing practitioner should review the title to find any rights or responsibilities. It is possible that there is a management company (wholly owned by residents) that owners pay into for the upkeep of the road. Where there is one, the road will likely be maintained and appear nicer than publicly maintained.