We previously instructed solicitors with offices in Farnham on the Barclays solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a separate amount for the legal aspects of the Barclays mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Barclays?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitor can charge a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Barclays but by your Farnham property lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Barclays panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but some practices incorporate it on their overall fee.
My husband and I are in the process of viewing houses in Farnham and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it best to have a conveyancer on ‘stand by’? I intend to finance via a home loan with Lloyds.
You should start requesting conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the EA. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Lloyds, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel.
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Farnham. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How do I make a complaint?
Most lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
A relative advised me that where I am buying in Farnham I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your Farnham conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Farnham around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Farnham Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Farnham.
My wife and I purchased a terraced Edwardian house in Farnham. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Clydesdale. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Farnham and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who carried out the work.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Farnham I like with a park and railway links nearby, the downside is that it only has 51 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Farnham for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a mortgage that many years will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.
I'm converting the mortgage on my primary property to a BTL loan with The Royal Bank of Scotland and intend to use the remaining equity towards a second property. The location we are looking at is Farnham. Will your solicitors be able to act for the two mortgage companies and tie in the conveyances?
Do use our comparison tool on this page to be sure that the solicitors are on the appropriate lender panels. Having checked that they are the lawyer should be able to connect the two transactions but you should have a chat with you lawyer and specify your expectations and needs.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Farnham which have approximately forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Farnham is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the salability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and banks, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises 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 Farnham 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. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed 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.
Farnham Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries Prior to buying
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Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? Most Farnham leasehold apartments will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the block levied by the freeholder. If you purchase the flat you will have to meet this contribution, normally periodically during the year. This can be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge to be met yearly, this is usually not a significant sum, say about £50-£100 but you should to enquire it because sometimes it could be surprisingly expensive. This information is useful as a) areas may result in problems for the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate if maintenance remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the managing agents you will wish to have full disclosure