Is it necessary during the course of the conveyancing process to visit the offices of the solicitor to execute the mortgage deed? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Northampton so that I can attend their offices if necessary.
As opposed to 15 years ago, almost all lenders no longer oblige their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. You will still be obliged to provide identification documents and there are still manifest advantages to using a locally based practitioner, in your situation a conveyancing solicitor in Northampton.
My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Northampton. Conveyancing is required. What are my next steps?
Given that you have now for all intents and purposes signed on the dotted line you must find a conveyancing practitioner soon as you are faced with a fast approaching a fixed date to complete the transaction. An auction property will ordinarily have a corresponding auction set of papers. This should include evidence of title and search results. Where you are dealing with leasehold premises the auction papers may contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork specific to a leasehold property. You need to hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. Do make sure that your finances are in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
A colleague advised me that in purchasing a property in Northampton there may be a number of restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external changes to a property. Is this right?
We are aware of a number of properties in Northampton which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Northampton should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
Is it correct that all Northampton CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Clydesdale conveyancing list of approved firms?
It is true that some banks and building societies now use CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.
What will a local search reveal concerning the house I am purchasing in Northampton?
Northampton conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations such as Searchflow The local search is essential in every Northampton conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any unpleasant surprises after you move into your property. The search will provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic areas.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on last month in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. Northampton is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Northampton are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Northampton you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Northampton may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
Taking into account that I am about to spend 450k on a terraced house in Northampton I would like to have a conversation with the lawyer concerning thetransaction ahead of giving the go ahead to the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
This is something that we encourage - we would be pleased to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you speaking to the lawyer who will be doing your property ownership legalities in Northampton.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is an important individual, not a file number. The law firms that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are provided with for residential conveyancing in Northampton should be the figure that you are charged.
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Northampton with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Northampton can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers’ representatives. Some Northampton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers. You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale. If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
I purchased a 1st floor flat in Northampton, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Northampton with an extended lease are worth £192,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease expires on 21st October 2080
With 54 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £32,300 and £37,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure 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 in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.