My aunt passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Woking. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £8000. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Principality, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
If you plan to re-mortgage then Principality will require that you use a conveyancer on the Principality 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 Principality 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 Principality mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our house are lost. The lawyers who conducted the conveyancing in Woking 10 years ago are no longer around. What are my options?
In today’s world there are copies made of almost everything, and your lawyer will be aware precisely where to look for all the suitable paperwork so you may buy or dispose of your property without any difficulty. If copies can’t be located, your solicitor can arrange cover in the form of insurance or indemnities against future claims on the premises.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and identified one close by in Woking I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 61 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Woking in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be problematic. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
My husband and I are four weeks into a leasehold purchase having been directed to a firm by the estate agent to perform conveyancing in Woking. I am not happy. Can you you assist me in finding new conveyancers?
They would have to be really poor in order to consider diss instructing them. Has your loan offer been issued? If so you need to advise them of the new lawyer and get the loan are re-issued. Your conveyancer should be on the lenders panel to avoid escalating fees and frustration. That should be your starting point. The find a solicitor tool should help you find a bank approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Woking
I have recently realised that I have 62 years unexpired on my lease in Woking. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?
If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Woking.
I invested in buying a split level flat in Woking, conveyancing having been completed March 2012. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding flats in Woking with an extended lease are worth £260,000. The ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease runs out on 21st October 2099
With only 74 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as professional fees.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.
My wife and I are buying a studio flat in Woking. When we first instructed lawyer, they told us that they were on all mainstream mortgage company panels. The financial adviser contacted us just now to say that they are not on the Bank of Ireland approved list. If it turns out to be true, what should we do? Should we simply pick a new property lawyer that is on their panel or do we pay for separate representation, with Bank of Ireland selecting their own approved property lawyer.
Where you are purchasing a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchaser’s lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a lawyer has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the lawyer to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the property lawyer has to fulfill. Some mortgage companies now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact Bank of Ireland and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on Bank of Ireland'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.