Completed the sale of my flat in Bishops Waltham last April but my buyer keeps whats apping every few hours to moan that his conveyancer needs to hear from mylawyer. What are the post completion sale formalities now that I have sold?
After completion of your disposal your lawyer should send the transfer documentation and all additional paperwork to the purchaser's lawyers. If applicable, your lawyer should also send confirmation that the home loan has been repaid to the purchasers lawyers. There are no post completion formalities unique to conveyancing in Bishops Waltham.
We are selling our apartment in Bishops Waltham. Will my property lawyer have to be on the Principality conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Principality conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently currently.
We previously appointed conveyancers located in Bishops Waltham on the Virgin Money solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional fee for the legal aspects of the Virgin Money mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Virgin Money?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your conveyancing practitioner can levy a fee for this. The fee is not set by Virgin Money but by your Bishops Waltham conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the Virgin Money panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but some firms incorporate it on their overall fee.
The mortgage over my property is with Principality for my property in Bishops Waltham. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Principality?
Principality must be informed of your intention prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Principality’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Principality will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Principality directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Principality conveyancing panel solicitor.
I am selling my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in October 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, RBS are being difficult. The Bishops Waltham solicitor who is on the RBS conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but RBS are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do RBS have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that RBS have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why RBS may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
How does conveyancing in Bishops Waltham differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Bishops Waltham come to us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in Bishops Waltham usually purchase the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Bishops Waltham or who has acted in the same development.
What makes a Bishops Waltham lease problematic?
There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Bishops Waltham. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:
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Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
You may have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Virgin Money, and TSB all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.
I inherited a 1 bedroom flat in Bishops Waltham, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Bishops Waltham with a long lease are worth £181,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2072
With just 51 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £30,400 and £35,200 as well as legals.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.
My partner and I today discovered that one of the directors of the firm handling the purchase conveyancing in Bishops Waltham is an aunty of the owners that we are buying from. Is this permitted?
Provided no conflict arises this is allowable. If you are needing a mortgage then the lender may have a say as many mortgage companies have specific requirements concerning this. For example for Barclays plc as of 21/11/2021, the requirements read as follows :