My wife and I are buying a newly constructed apartment in Whyteleafe and my conveyancer is advising me that she has to the mortgage company to reveal incentives from the builder. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to exchange and my preference is not to prolong matters. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your property lawyer. A precondition to being on a bank 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.
We wanted to use a conveyancing solicitor in Whyteleafe for our house purchase. Our broker has since advised us that our mortgage company Barclays Direct won't deal with them. Surely this is unfair competition?
A mortgage company may direct that an approved conveyancer act for it. Borrowers are liable to meet the cost of this. Please make use of our search facility to locate a solicitor to conduct conveyancing in Whyteleafe on the Barclays Direct approved list of solicitors.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Whyteleafe?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Whyteleafe. 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…’
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Whyteleafe. 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 conveyancing.
Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Whyteleafe
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Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Please supply a car parking plan. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Whyteleafe which have about 50 years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Whyteleafe is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the property. For most buyers and mortgage companies, leases with under 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Whyteleafe conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
Having spent years of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Whyteleafe. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Whyteleafe conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Whyteleafe premises is 223 Brighton Road in September 2013. The premium payable for the acquisition freehold of the properties should be £10,934 (Ten thousand,nine hundred and thirty four pounds) This case affected 3 flats. The unexpired term was 75 years.
We own a leasehold flat in Whyteleafe. Conveyancing was completed in five years ago. I have heard that I mustn’t allow the the remaining lease term to fall too low. What is the reasoning?
Whyteleafe leasehold properties are for a prescribed term - often just under one hundred years when they are first granted. However many appartments in Whyteleafe were built or converted in the 60’s and so such leases now have under eighty years unexpired. That may seem like plenty of time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage companies tend to need leases to have a minimum of 75 years unexpired to adequate security. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are getting close to seventy five years. To enhance the saleability of your property you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. Furthermore strong financial reasons to taking action before the lease reaches even 80 years as when the lease is less than 80 years the premium to be paid to extend starts to increase.