My wife and I are hoping to purchase a house in Woburn Sands and have appointed a Woburn Sands conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Virgin Money have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Woburn Sands conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Woburn Sands solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
The Woburn Sands conveyancing firm handling our Woburn Sands conveyancing has spotted an inconsistency when comparing the information in the home valuation report and what is revealed within the title deeds. My solicitor has advised that he must ensure that the bank is happy with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my solicitor’s approach right?
Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
A friend recommended that if I am purchasing in Woburn Sands I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Woburn Sands conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Woburn Sands around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Woburn Sands Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Woburn Sands.
I am buying a new build apartment in Woburn Sands. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Here are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Woburn Sands
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The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. 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.
I am attracted to a two apartments in Woburn Sands which have approximately 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Woburn Sands is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. For most buyers and lenders, leases with under eighty 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 premises 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 a residence 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 Woburn Sands conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend 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 any new 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.
I own a leasehold flat in Woburn Sands, conveyancing formalities finalised April 2012. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Woburn Sands with an extended lease are worth £216,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2094
You have 69 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
I am buying a flat and need a conveyancing solicitor in Woburn Sands who is on the lender conveyancing panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a Woburn Sands solicitor?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for the mortgage company who carry out conveyancing in Woburn Sands. We dont recommend any particular solicitor.