My grandmother passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Woking. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £8000. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Skipton, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
Given you intend to re-mortgage then Skipton will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Skipton 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 Skipton 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 Skipton mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
The deeds to my home are lost. The solicitors who dealt with the conveyancing in Woking 5 years ago have long since closed. What are my options?
Gone are the days when you need to hold title original deeds to prove you are the owner of your registered land or property, as the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.
I am looking for a flat up to £235,500 and found one close by in Woking I like with a park and transport links nearby, however it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Woking in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease may be an issue. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
My husband and I are a fortnight into a freehold purchase having been referred to conveyancers by the local agent to perform conveyancing in Woking. I am am extremely disappointed with the quality of service. Can you you assist me in finding new conveyancers?
They would need to be really poor in order to consider diss instructing them. Has the loan offer been issued? In the event that it has you must make them aware of the replacement solicitor and have the mortgage documents are re-issued. Your conveyancer should be on the mortgage company panel to avoid supplemental fees and delays. That should be your first question of the new lawyers. Our find a solicitor tool can help you find a bank approved solicitor for your home move in Woking
Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Woking. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?
If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. On the whole a specialist should be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Woking.
I am the registered owner of a 1 bedroom flat in Woking, conveyancing having been completed in 2012. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Woking with a long lease are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease ends on 21st October 2099
You have 74 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £8,600 and £9,800 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 are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.
My wife and I are buying a studio flat in Woking. At the point of instructing our conveyancing practitioner, they said that they were on all major UK bank panels. The mortgage broker called yesterday to advise that they don't seem to be on the Barclays approved list. Were it to be true, what should we do? Should we just pick a new property lawyer that is on their panel or should we cover the costs for dual representation, with Barclays appointing their own preferred solicitor.
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchaser’s lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a solicitor has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the conveyancing practitioner to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the conveyancing practitioner has to fulfill. Some banks now insist their panel firms to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your lawyer should contact Barclays to find out 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on Barclays's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Woking solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.