About to place a bid on a leasehold apartment in Crouch End. The estate agents tell me that it is normal for flats in Crouch End to have less than 75 years left on the lease. I am expecting a mortgage with The Mortgage Works. Is this going to be a problem if the lease has Seventy One years unexpired.
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. The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 21/9/2019 the requirements read as follows :
Ground Rents and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us for Valuer consideration. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Originations (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term <70 years
- Ground Rent >0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles <every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years)
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period ≤5 years
Refer to Originations (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 70 to 85 years
- Ground Rent >0.1% and ≤0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is >5 and <10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges >£500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges >0.5% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Originations):
- Unexpired lease term >85 years
- Ground Rent ≤0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period ≥10 years
- Ground Rent escalation ≤RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Originations (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term <125 years on a new build flat or <250 years on a new build house
- Starting Ground Rent >0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period ≤ 5 years
- Ground Rent doubles < every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years)
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
Refer to Originations (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Ground Rent is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent is linked to the value of the building*
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges >£500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges >0.5% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Originations):
- Unexpired lease term ≥125 years on a new build flat or ≥250 years on a new build house
- Starting Ground Rent ≤0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period >5 years
- Ground Rent escalation ≤RPI
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Crouch End. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an upfront payment of £200. A few days later, the lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the UBS 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 UBS 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 was told three weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Co-operative. Is it usual for Co-operative to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Crouch End is approved on their conveyancing panel? Co-operative have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Co-operative to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Our sealed bid on a property in Crouch End has been accepted, the sellers do nevertheless have a connected purchase. The owners have placed an offer on on an apartment, however it’s not yet tied up, and are looking at other flats booked. I have chosen a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Crouch End. What do I do now? At what point do I apply for the mortgage with Nottingham?
It is understandable to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then survey, Crouch End conveyancing search charges, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Nottingham approved list. Regarding the subsequent phase this very much depends on the uniqueness of your transaction, desire for the property and on the state of the market. During a rising market the majority of home buyers will apply for the mortgage with Nottingham and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their property lawyer to press on with searches.
Is it necessary to pay for insurance to protect me from financial exposure to chancel repairs when acquiring a house in Crouch End?
Unless a previous acquisition of the house completed after 12 October 2013 you could assume that conveyancing practitioners delivering conveyancing in Crouch End to continue to recommend a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.
How does conveyancing in Crouch End differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Crouch End contact us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is built. This is because developers in Crouch End tend to buy the site, 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 conveyancers 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in Crouch End or who has acted in the same development.
I’m about to sell my garden apartment in Crouch End. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, however I have recently had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?
The sensible thing to do is discharge the invoice as usual as all ground rent and service invoices will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a Crouch End conveyancing firm to help?
if there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Crouch End premises is Flat 2A 19 Shepherds Hill in June 2014. The tribunal concluded in accordance with section 48 and schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act (the 1993 Act) that the premium payable in respect of the grant of a new lease for the Flat be £24,303 (twenty four thousand three hundred and three pounds) This case was in relation to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 67.85 years.
My solicitors in Crouch End have advised me that they can not locate my conveyancing file. At the time of my purchase I took out a mortgage with the bank. Is it case that being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a number of years?
Different lenders have different requirements but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the bank Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting the mortgage company directly.
