Me and my partner are purchasing a flat in Canterbury. My property lawyer is not on the mortgage company conveyancing list. Am I still permitted to use my Canterbury conveyancing solicitor even though they are not on the lender panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
You have numerous choices available to you here
- Proceed with your chosen Canterbury property lawyer but your bank will need to use a lawyer on their approved panel. This will result in additional fees together with potential delay.
- Get a fresh lawyer to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are on the bank conveyancing panel.
- Convince your property lawyer to pull out all the stops to join the bank’s conveyancing panel
I am buying a house for cash in Canterbury. I have resided for the last twelve years in Canterbury. Conveyancing searches are a lot of money. Given that I have knowledge of the road and vicinity very well must I have all the conveyancing searches?
If you not getting a home loan, then all but one or two of the Canterbury conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your solicitor will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches done, but he is duty bound to take that path of advice. One thing to bear in mind; if you are intend to dispose of the house at a future date, it could be of relevance to your future purchaser what the searches disclose. There are plenty of instances where properties with no practical issues can still show up negative search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Canterbury will be able to give you some practical guidance concerning this.
My uncle informed me that in purchasing a property in Canterbury there may be a number of restrictions preventing external changes to a property. Is this right?
We are aware of a number of properties in Canterbury which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Canterbury should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
Is it the case that all Canterbury CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel?
Some major banks and building societies now make use of the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to remain on their approved list of firms.
I have instructed a Canterbury solicitor having checked that they are on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Yorkshire BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Yorkshire BS 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. You may wish to consider appointing your own Canterbury surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Is it necessary to take out insurance to address the risk of chancel repairs when purchasing a residence in Canterbury?
Unless a prior purchase of the premises completed after 12 October 2013 you can expect solicitors handling conveyancing in Canterbury to continue to propose a a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one round the corner in Canterbury I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Canterbury in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
Should you need a mortgage that many years may be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.
I've found a house that appears to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Canterbury. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Canterbury ?
Most houses in Canterbury are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Canterbury so you should seriously consider looking for a Canterbury conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the landlord’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.
I am the registered owner of a leasehold flat in Canterbury, conveyancing formalities finalised 5 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar flats in Canterbury with over 90 years remaining are worth £216,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease terminates on 21st October 2090
With just 69 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as legals.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.