Our family lawyer has quoted £1400 for no sale no fee conveyancing in Wantage. I am hoping to downsize from a newly refurbished detached home for £175,000. Are the quoted fees excessive? Is it in excess of the norm for conveyancing in Wantage?
The quote is fractionally on the high side. If you are content to invest time scrutinising costs you may be able to trim some of the expense by say £125. That being said, you couldlive to regret choosing an an untested lawyer. Don't forget to be sure the conveyancer can also act for your bank. You can employ our comparison tool to find a Wantage conveyancing firm on the lender’s approved list of lawyers which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Wantage.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Wantage is more expensive?
Wantage leasehold properties involve far more paperwork than a freehold purchase, and therefore takes more time to examine and advise upon.Conveyancing will involve the lease having to be checked which is usually a lengthy document, queries raised to ensure that the covenants and conditions have been observed. If it is a flat there will be a management company in existence and the accounts of this will need to be checked and enquiries raised to ensure it is operating efficiently and that all monies due have been paid by the Seller to the company and if not ensuring that money is paid up to date or the appropriate undertakings obtained.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Nationwide. I assume I don't need a Wantage lawyer on the Nationwide panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Nationwide mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Nationwide mortgage from the register. Nationwide, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Nationwide has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Nationwide has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I can not fathom if my lender requires a lease extension. I have called into my local Wantage bank branch on numerous occasions and was told it does not impact the mortgage offer and they will lend. My Wantage conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called to say that they refuse to lend based on their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
As long as the lawyer is on the mortgage company approved list, they must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender 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.
Intending to buy a house in Wantage. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Wantage conveyancer is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Wantage I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Wantage suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this.
Do I need to be suspicious that brokers that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use a national conveyancing firm rather than a local Wantage conveyancing company?
As is the case with many service providers, often recommendations from relatives can be worth their weight in gold. Yet there are numerous people with a keen interest in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies might all recommend solicitors to retain. Sometimes the solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but occasionally there is an underlying financial incentive behind the recommendation. You are at liberty to appoint your preferred lawyer. You need to be aware that some lenders operate an approved list of law firms you have to use for the mortgage aspect of your conveyancing.
Back In 2002, I bought a leasehold flat in Wantage. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Wantage who acted for me is not around. Any advice?
First contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Wantage conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
Wantage Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before buying
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Does this lease have more than 85 years left? Is anyone aware of any major works anticipated that will increase the maintenance costs? How much is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the property?