Can your site be used to find a Conveyancing solicitor in Hulme even if I’m not purchasing or selling a house, for instance if I intend to acquire an office in Hulme with a mortgage from Barnsley Building Society?
Our search tool is mainly utilised to help choose domestic conveyancing solicitors in Hulme but we have set out towards the end of this page some Hulme commercial conveyancing firms. You will need to enquire with the company directly to establish if they are also authorised to represent Barnsley Building Society
I am about to put an offer on a leasehold flat in Hulme. The estate agents say that it is the norm for flats in Hulme to have less than 75 years unexpired on the lease. I am obtaining a loan with The Mortgage Works. Is this going to be a problem if the lease has 70 years unexpired.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 15/2/2026 the requirements read as follows :
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 70 years
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 70 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn ground rent (annual rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any new build properties completed but not sold pre 30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the lease conforms to the above guidance
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years
LEASE EXTENSIONS
We require all lease extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to the Issuing Office
Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Hulme?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Hulme. 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…’
I'm remortgaging my existing house to a buy to let loan with Leeds Building Society and intend to use the remaining equity as a deposit on further property. The area we are interested in is Hulme. Will your lawyers be able to act for the two lenders and link together the conveyances?
Do use our search tool on this page to ensure that the solicitors are on the relevant lender panels. Having checked that they are your solicitor will be able to connect the two transactions but you should have a chat with you lawyer and communicate your desired outcome and needs.
I need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer in Hulme for my purchase. Is it possible to review a firm’s record with the legal regulator?
You can search for published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations stemming from investigations from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find details Pre 2008, or to check a firm's history, call 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. For callers outside the UK, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator sometimes monitor call for training reasons.
We own a leasehold flat in Hulme. Conveyancing was finished in 2009. I have been told that I mustn’t let the the remaining lease term to fall too low. Is this right?
Hulme leasehold properties are for a fixed period - usually ninety nine years when they started. However a significant flats in Hulme were constructed or converted in the 60’s and so these leases now have less than 80 years left to run. This may sound like a long time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders tend to require leases to have a minimum of 75 years remaining to be mortgageable. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are getting close to 75 years. To increase your property value you should be thinking about whether or not to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. Furthermore advantages to doing so before the lease reaches even 80 years as when the lease is below eighty years the amount you have to pay to extend starts to escalate.