The Poundbury conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Poundbury have suddenly closed. I chose them because I had to have a firm on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and my family Poundbury lawyer was not. I paid them £170 on account. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to assist.
I understand that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Am I compelled to take this when purchasing a house in Poundbury? or Apparently there is historic law that means some homeowners living in a parish church boundary will be compelled to pay for maintenance to the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this appropriate for conveyancing in Poundbury?
Unless a prior purchase of the premises completed after 12 October 2013 you may expect solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Poundbury to continue to advocate a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Poundbury with a mortgage from Lloyds TSB Bank. The builders would not move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The estate agent told me not to tell my conveyancer about this extras as it will put at risk my loan with Lloyds TSB Bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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 have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Poundbury I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Poundbury in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.
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At this site get an accurate costs illustration from a Solicitor or Licensed Conveyancer that has a full understanding of the nuances of your conveyancing in Poundbury. As opposed to estate agents and many comparison sites we are not in the business of charging firms a commission if you appoint them for your conveyancing in Poundbury
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Poundbury from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?
- Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Poundbury can be avoided where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers’ solicitors. You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Poundbury leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you dont have the paperwork to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance. Some Poundbury 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 put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Poundbury - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing
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Many Poundbury leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the block set on behalf of the management company. If you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this contribution, normally quarterly throughout the year. This can differ from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common areas. There will also be a ground rent to be met yearly, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant figure, say approximately £50-£100 but you need to enquire as occasionally it could be prohibitively expensive. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments? The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the leaseholders enjoy being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is often employed if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders.