Our conveyancer has identified a a legal deficiency with the lease for the property we are buying in Dunston. The seller’s lawyers have offered title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our conveyancing practitioner has advised that he must ensure that the lender is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the mortgage company are the client. Your conveyancer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the bank can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your conveyancing practitioner will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
My lawyer in Dunston is not on the Bank of Ireland Conveyancing Panel. Can I still retain my prefered solicitor even though they are excluded from the Bank of Ireland list of approved lawyers?
Your options are as follows:
- Carry on with your preferred Dunston lawyers but Bank of Ireland will need to instruct a solicitor on their list of acceptable firms. This will result in additional overall legal charges and cause frustration.
- Get an alternative lawyer to to deal with the purchase, remembering to check they are Bank of Ireland approved.
- Persuade your Bank of Ireland based solicitor to try to join the Bank of Ireland panel
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unexperienced as FTB of a garden flat in Dunston. Do I pick up the keys to the premises on completion from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will use a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Dunston?
On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Dunston. Your solicitors will transfer the completion advance to the owner’s lawyers, and once they have received this, you should be able to pick up the keys from the selling Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.
I'm the single beneficiary of my late father’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Dunston. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in February. I now wish to sell up. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship could be considered the same way as if I'd bought the house in February. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The CML handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be affected by that. How sensible a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the lender as this provision chiefly exists to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of property.
About to purchase flat in Dunston. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Dunston conveyancer is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel.
What can a local search tell me about the property we're buying in Dunston?
Dunston conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations for example Searchflow The local search plays an important part in most Dunston conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any unpleasant surprises after you move into your property. The search should reveal information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject headings.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Dunston in advance of appointing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor advised that some lenders may not grant a mortgage on such a house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Nationwide. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Dunston. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Dunston especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Dunston.
I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Dunston. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
The sensible thing to do is clear the maintenance contribution as usual given that all rents and service payments will be apportioned on completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I purchased a basement flat in Dunston, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen 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? Comparable properties in Dunston with a long lease are worth £197,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2081
With only 55 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £31,400 and £36,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.