We are buying a new build flat in Ludgershall and my solicitor is advising me that she has to the lender to reveal incentives from the seller. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to exchange contracts and I would rather not prolong the conveyancing. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
A relative advised me that where I am buying in Ludgershall I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is usually included in the estimate for your Ludgershall conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Ludgershall 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 Property Price, Crime details, Ludgershall Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Ludgershall.
I'm buying a new build house in Ludgershall benefiting from help to buy. The sellers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The estate agent advised me not inform my conveyancer about this side-deal as it may impact my mortgage with the bank. 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 am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Ludgershall I like with amenity areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Ludgershall for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be an issue. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.
I was pointed in your direction by a few estate agents in Ludgershall to locate a conveyancer on your site. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers ahead of alternative conveyancing organisations?
We don’t make any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers to this site. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because members of the public would think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
Two months into buying a residence in Ludgershall. Conveyancing lawyer has called to say the title is "Leasehold". Will this likely adversely affect the marketability of the property?
Ludgershall conveyancing does not in most situations involve leasehold houses. The key consideration here is the unexpired lease term and the ground rent. If there are over a hundred years remaining with a nominal rent, it's almost the same as freehold, so it shouldn't impact the value too much.
At the other extreme, if it's, say, fifty five years it is bound to have a adverse effect on the value, and probably wouldn't be mortgageable. The remaining lease term and ground rent will be specified in the lease provided to your lawyer.