The mortgage offer from HSBC for the refinancing of my 2 bedroom maisonette is due by the end of next week. Are you able to recommend a cheap conveyancing solicitor in Barnard Castle?
This site is not designed to help those in their quest for a cheap conveyancing in Barnard Castle. We can offer you excellent value conveyancing but we do not aim to work with the cheapest lawyers. Do not be swayed by companies teasing you with £99 conveyancing in Barnard Castle. In your best case scenario, in choosing a lawyer for low cost conveyancing, you will end up with what you pay for and at worst it will result in you invoiced for additional fees and still not get the service required.
I have 7378 less than 75 years left on my lease and require a lease extension for my apartment in Barnard Castle. Conveyancing solicitors on the Chelsea Building Society panel can deal with such extensions correct?
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Chelsea Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 28/11/2023 the requirements read as follows :
I am the sole recipient of my late father’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Barnard Castle. The Barnard Castle property was put into my name in October. I want to move. I do know about the CML six month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship may be treated the same way as if I'd bought the property in October. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The CML handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. How practical a view banks take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this requirement is chiefly there to identify subsales or the flipping of property.
I have paid off my mortgage with Coventry BS. I assume I don't need a Barnard Castle conveyancer on the Coventry BS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Coventry BS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Coventry BS mortgage from the register. Coventry BS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Coventry BS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Coventry BS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Having read lots of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Barnard Castle solicitor - who is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Lloyds will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Lloyds will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Barnard Castle postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Lloyds, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Barnard Castle.
The deeds to our home can not be found. The solicitors who handled the conveyancing in Barnard Castle 5 years ago no longer exist. What do I do?
Gone are the days when you need to hold title deeds to establish that you are the registered proprietor of land or property, given that the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and identified one round the corner in Barnard Castle I like with open areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Barnard Castle for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage that many years will likely be an issue. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
Last July I purchased a leasehold flat in Barnard Castle. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).
Leasehold Conveyancing in Barnard Castle - Sample of Queries Prior to buying
-
Its a good idea to discover as much as you can concerning the managing agents as they will either make your living at the property much simpler or much more difficult. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day matters like the tidiness of the common parts. Don't be shy to ask other people what they think of them. On a final note, be sure you understand the dates that the service fees are due to the relevant party and precisely what it includes. Many Barnard Castle leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the building levied by the freeholder. Where you purchase the flat you will have to pay this contribution, usually in instalments accross the year. This may differ from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge to be met yearly, this is usually not a exorbitant figure, say about £25-£75 but you should to enquire it because on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds.