The lawyer who assisted with my former purchase has sent a quote for £1350 for freehold conveyancing in Winchester. I’m selling a Edwardian detached home for £250,000. Is this expensive? Is it in excess of what I should be paying for conveyancing in Winchester?
The charges are a little high. If you are willing to expend time scrutinising fee on a like for like basis you might reduce the fees slightly by perhaps a hundred pounds. That being said, you maycome to regret choosing an a cheaper solicitor. Don't forget to check that the firm can act for your bank. Do utilise our comparison tool to select a Winchester conveyancing practice on the banks approved list of lawyers which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Winchester.
My grandfather passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Winchester. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £4500. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to HSBC, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
Where you intend to refinance then HSBC will insist on your using a conveyancer on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your HSBC conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the HSBC mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
Various web forums that I have come across warn that are the number one cause of stalling in Winchester house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the most frequent causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Winchester.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Winchester?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Winchester. 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…’
Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Winchester from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Winchester can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers’ representatives. A minority of Winchester leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors. If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Winchester conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later. If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
I inherited a 1 bedroom flat in Winchester, conveyancing formalities finalised 7 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable properties in Winchester with an extended lease are worth £191,000. The ground rent is £55 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2079
With only 54 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to be between £32,300 and £37,400 as well as costs.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.
I have checked your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the mortgage company approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the lender conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the mortgage company solicitor panel.