My Hoddesdon lawyer has spotted a difference between the surveyor’s assumptions in the home valuation survey and what is in the legal papers for the property. My lawyer informs me that he must ensure that the lender is OK with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my conveyancer’s course or action legitimate?
Your property lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. 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.
I happen to be the only recipient of my late father’s estate and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Hoddesdon. The Hoddesdon property was put into my name in October. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', meaning my property ownership may be considered the same way as if I'd bought the house in October. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The CML handbook obliges conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be caught by that. How sensible a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the lender as this obligation is primarily there to pick up on the purchase and immediately sell or the flipping of property.
I've 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 Hoddesdon solicitor - who is on the TSB conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
TSB will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually TSB 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 Hoddesdon 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.
Co-operative have agreed my home loan in principle, my bid on a flat in Hoddesdon has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
The property agent will want to know who your solicitors are (make sure the solicitors are on the bank’s approved list). Telephone Co-operative or your broker and finalise any outstanding paperwork. Co-operative will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or owners to schedule an appointment. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes on average a week for the mortgage offer to be issued. Co-operative will issue the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Hoddesdon.
I am buying a new build house in Hoddesdon benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The property agent suggested that I not to tell my conveyancer about this side-deal as it will impact my mortgage with TSB. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I opted to have a survey completed on a house in Hoddesdon before appointing lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. My surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend not issue a mortgage on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you e-mail us we can check via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Hoddesdon. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Hoddesdon especially if they are acquainted with such properties in Hoddesdon.
I have recently realised that I have Seventy years left on my flat in Hoddesdon. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?
If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Hoddesdon.
I bought a 1 bedroom flat in Hoddesdon, conveyancing having been completed 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? Equivalent properties in Hoddesdon with over 90 years remaining are worth £195,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2088
With just 63 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £16,200 and £18,600 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered 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.
I own a leasehold flat in Hoddesdon. Conveyancing was finalised in 2011. I have heard that I should not allow the the remaining lease term to fall too low. Is this right?
Hoddesdon leasehold properties are for a fixed term - usually ninety nine years when they are first granted. However many appartments in Hoddesdon were constructed or converted in the 70’s80’s and so such leases now have under eighty years left to run. This may sound like a long time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage companies tend to require leases to have a minimum of seventy five years remaining to be mortgageable. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are getting close to 75 years. To maximise the saleability of your property you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. Furthermore significant benefits to taking action before the lease reaches even eighty years as when the lease is below eighty years the premium you have to pay to extend starts to escalate.