I am buying a terraced house in Catshill. Conveyancing solicitors are said to be ‘a necessary evil’ but can I do it myself?
Leaving aside the complexities and merits of DIY conveyancing in Catshill you will have to appoint a solicitor on your mortgage company's conveyancing panel to look after their interests. Most people therefore find it easier to let the solicitor act for them and the lender. Furthermore there is minimal cost savings to be made in you doing conveyancing for yourself and another lawyer conducting the conveyancing for the lender. Please feel free to use the search tool to find a lawyer on your lender panel in Catshill.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unseasoned as FTB of a garden flat in Catshill. Do I collect the keys to the premises on the completion date from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will find a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Catshill?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will electronically transfer the purchase money to the seller's lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be called to collect the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.
We are purchasing a terrace house in Catshill. Our aim is to convert the garage to a playroom at the house.Will legal work on the property involve checks to determine if these alterations are permitted?
Your property lawyer will review the deeds as conveyancing in Catshill will occasionally identify restrictions in the title deeds which restrict categories of alterations or need the permission of a 3rd party. Certain additions require local authority planning consent and approval in compliance with building regulations. Certain locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. You should check these issues with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.
I am purchasing a property in Catshill. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Aldermore be concerned?
Given that your lender is Aldermore your lawyer must check the formal instructions contained in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Aldermore. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook sets out minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and lawyers are required to report to Aldermore where a lease does not comply with these provisions. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not restricted to Catshill.
We are selling our house in Catshill and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. Any high street Catshill conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the purchasers are using a national conveyancing outfit rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Catshill. Having lived in Catshill for many years we know of no issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain clarification need.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor already. What do they say? You need to check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)
It has been 4 months following my purchase conveyancing in Catshill completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Should I be concerned by brokers that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use an online conveyancing firm as opposed to a local Catshill conveyancing company?
As is the case with lots of professional services, often referrals from connections can be very helpful. Yet there are lots of players in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, financial adviser and mortgage companies may put forward solicitors to choose. Sometimes the conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but occasionally there is an underlying commercial relationship behind the endorsement. You are free to select your preferred lawyer. Don't forget that the majority of banks specify a panel list of solicitors you have to use for the mortgage related work in your home move.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Catshill which have approximately forty five years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Catshill is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. The majority of buyers and mortgage companies, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Catshill conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Catshill - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying
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The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the leaseholders benefit from control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually retained where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Plenty Catshill leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the building invoiced by the landlord. Should you buy the flat you will have to pay this liability, normally quarterly accross the year. This may be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a significant amount, say around £50-£100 but you should to check as occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive. Is anyone aware of any major works on the horizon that will add a premium to the maintenance fees?