We are soon to complete buying a property in Caerphilly but as a result of damage from a small fire at the property I have managed to agree compensation from the current proprietors in the sum of three thousand pounds by way of a adjustment in the price. I had intended this to be addressed as part of a side agreement however Yorkshire BS will not agree to this. Should they have been involved?
The property lawyer that is on a Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel is duty bound to disclose to Yorkshire BS of any amendments to the sale price. If you prohibit your conveyancing practitioner to disclose the price change to Yorkshire BS then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Yorkshire BS and you would have to appoint a new property lawyer for your conveyancing in Caerphilly.
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Caerphilly. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I would like to complain about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are sorted out effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Caerphilly. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £200. Not long after, the conveyancer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Aldermore panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I am due to exchange contracts on my house. I had a double glazing fitted in March 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, Principality are being pedantic. The Caerphilly solicitor who is on the Principality conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Principality are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Principality have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Principality have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Principality 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.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Caerphilly?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Caerphilly. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and found one close by in Caerphilly I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Caerphilly suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a home loan that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.
Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Caerphilly conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?
If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Caerphilly conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Caerphilly conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions might be helpful:
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What are the legal fees for lease extension conveyancing? How many lease extensions has the firm completed in Caerphilly in the last year?
Leasehold Conveyancing in Caerphilly - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying
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Is the freehold owned collectively by the leaseholders? Plenty Caerphilly leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the block levied on behalf of the management company. Should you acquire the flat you will have to meet this contribution, usually in instalments throughout the year. This could vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent to be met yearly, normally this is not a large amount, say about £25-£75 but you need to enquire as on occasion it can be surprisingly expensive. How much is the ground rent and service charge?
18 days into a sale of a flat in Caerphilly. Conveyancing is fine but we are being charged a fortune from the freeholder. To date we have forked out £295.50 for a leasehold management pack and then a further £200 plus VAT for responses to queries supplied by the buyers conveyancing practitioner.
Neither you or your conveyancer will have any sway over the extent of the charges for this information however the average costs for the information for Caerphilly leasehold premises is £355. For Caerphilly conveyancing sales it is usual for the vendor to cover the charges. The freeholder or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions although many will agree to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Regretfully there is no statute that mandates fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any prescriptive time frame by which they are duty bound to provide the information.