Our solicitor has discovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the apartment we are purchasing in South Woodham Ferrers. The seller’s lawyers have offered defective title insurance as a workaround. We are content with insurance and will cover the costs. Our lawyer says that he must check that the mortgage company is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the bank are the client. Your property lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the lender can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your conveyancer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
Should my conveyancer be making enquiries about flooding during the conveyancing in South Woodham Ferrers.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers dealing with homes in South Woodham Ferrers. Plenty of people will buy a house in South Woodham Ferrers, completely expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Solicitors are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a various checks that can be undertaken by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in South Woodham Ferrers. The conventional set of information given to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a standard question of the seller to find out whether the premises has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred and is not disclosed by the vendor, then a buyer may commence a claim for damages stemming from an misleading response. The purchaser’s solicitors will also carry out an enviro report. This should higlight whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further investigations will need to be made.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in South Woodham Ferrers before appointing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor has said that some lenders tend not issue a loan on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can investigate further via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in South Woodham Ferrers. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in South Woodham Ferrers especially if they are acquainted with such properties in South Woodham Ferrers.
Am I better off to use a South Woodham Ferrers conveyancing practitioner based in the vicinity that I am purchasing? An old friend can carry out the conveyancing however his firm is located over three hundred kilometers drive away.
The primary upside of using a high street South Woodham Ferrers conveyancing firm is that you can visit the firm to execute paperwork, present your ID and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local insight which is a plus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who instructed your friend and they were impressed that must surpass using an unfamiliar South Woodham Ferrers conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being South Woodham Ferrers based.
I've recently bought a leasehold flat in South Woodham Ferrers. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
South Woodham Ferrers Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before buying
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What is the annual service fee and ground rent? Are there any major works in the planning that could add a premium to the service fees?
I own a leasehold flat in South Woodham Ferrers. Conveyancing was finalised in five years ago. I have been told that I should not let the the remaining lease term to fall too low. What is the reasoning?
South Woodham Ferrers residential long term leases are for a fixed period - usually 99 years when they started. However many flats in South Woodham Ferrers were constructed or converted 25 or more years ago and so such leases now have under eighty years remaining. That may sound like a long time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders tend to require leases to have at least 75 years unexpired to adequate security. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are approaching eighty years. To optimize the saleability of your property you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. There are also strong financial reasons to taking action before the lease hits eighty years as when the lease falls below eighty years the amount you have to pay to extend starts to escalate.