My conveyancer has identified a defect with the lease for the flat we are buying in Great Ayton. The seller’s lawyers have suggested title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our conveyancer has advised that he must check that the mortgage company is content with this solution. Are we the client or is the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. Your property lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the lender 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 lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
A colleague informed me that in buying a property in Great Ayton there may be various restrictions prohibiting external alterations to the property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in Great Ayton which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Great Ayton should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I have paid off my mortgage with Nottingham. I assume I don't need a Great Ayton conveyancing practitioner on the Nottingham panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Nottingham mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Nottingham mortgage from the register. Nottingham, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Nottingham has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Nottingham has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Having digested plenty of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Great Ayton solicitor - who is on the Principality conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Principality will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Principality will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Great Ayton surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Great Ayton I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Great Ayton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years 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 consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.
Am I best advised to go with a Great Ayton conveyancing solicitor based in the area that I am buying? An old friend can deal with the legal work but they are based 300miles away.
The primary upside of using a local Great Ayton conveyancing firm is that you can drop in to sign documents, deliver your ID and pester them if necessary. Having local Great Ayton know how is a benefit. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have used your friend and on the whole were impressed that should trump using an unfamiliar Great Ayton conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being round the corner.
I’m about to sell my basement flat in Great Ayton. Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon, but 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 pay the service charge as you normally would given that all rents and service invoices will be allotted 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I bought a 1st floor flat in Great Ayton, conveyancing was carried out 9 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? Similar flats in Great Ayton with a long lease are worth £201,000. The ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2089
With only 65 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £13,300 and £15,400 plus legals.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.
I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Great Ayton. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Great Ayton ?
Most houses in Great Ayton are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Great Ayton so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Great Ayton conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your lawyer will appraise you on the various issues.