Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Emersons Green is more expensive?
In short, leasehold conveyancing in Emersons Green and Gloucestershire usually requires more hours of investigation compared to freehold transactions. This includes reviewing the lease, communicating with the landlord about the service of required notices, procuring current service charge and management information, obtaining the landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts. The obligations on both the landlord and the tenant in the lease need to be studied by the buyer’s conveyancing team and read from beginning to end – regardless of the fact the lease has passed through many different property solicitors hands since it was first entered into.
Are all Emersons Green Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the UBS conveyancing panel?
A selection of banks and building societies now use the accreditation scheme as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to remain on their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Santander. Emersons Green conveyancing practitioners were selected. How long does it take for Santander to issue the offer to the lawyer?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Santander completed the survey? Have you advised Santander as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Santander conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Emersons Green off the council. I have a mortgage agreed with Leeds Building Society. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Leeds Building Society, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Emersons Green?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Emersons Green. 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…’
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Emersons Green. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.
Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Emersons Green
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Please supply a car parking plan. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents.
I have just started marketing my garden flat in Emersons Green. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, however I have recently had a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?
The sensible thing to do is clear the maintenance contribution as you normally would as all ground rent and service invoices will be apportioned as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser 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.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Emersons Green - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying
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How is the lease structured? The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the tenants benefit from control and although a managing agent is frequently retained where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Are there any major works on the horizon that could add a premium to the service fees?
My wife and I are buying a studio flat in Emersons Green. At the time of instructing our conveyancer, they told us that they were on all major UK bank panels. The financial adviser emailed just now to say that they don't seem to be on the HSBC approved list. Were it to be true, what should we do? Should we just find a new property lawyer that is on their panel or do we pay for dual representation, with HSBC selecting their own preferred property lawyer.
When acquiring a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the buyer’s lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a property lawyer has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the property lawyer to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the lawyer has to meet. Some building societies now insist their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your conveyancing practitioner should contact HSBC to find out if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on HSBC's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Emersons Green solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.