I am the registered owner of a freehold property in Reigate but still pay rent, why is this and what is this?
It is rare for properties in Reigate and has limited impact for conveyancing in Reigate but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of new rentcharges from 1977 onwards.
Previous rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence after 2037 is to be extinguished.
Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the HSBC Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Reigate?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
I can not work out if my lender obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called into my local Reigate building society branch on a couple of occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they will lend. My Reigate conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they will not lend based on their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
The lawyer has to comply with the CML Handbook Part 2 specifications for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Reigate. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £225. A couple of days later, the lawyer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Santander conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Santander panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Our offer on a detached house in Reigate has been accepted, the sellers do nevertheless have a dependent purchase. The owners have offered on a flat, however it’s not yet tied up, and are looking at other properties in the pipeline. I have chosen a local conveyancing solicitor in Reigate. What do I do now? When should I get the mortgage application with Kent Reliance started?
It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is approx £1k, then survey, Reigate conveyancing search charges, etc). The first course of action is to ensure that your property lawyer is on the Kent Reliance approved list. As to the subsequent steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your case, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. During a hot market some home buyers would apply for the mortgage with Kent Reliance and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their conveyancing practitioner to move forward with the conveyancing in Reigate.
We are downsizing from our house in Reigate and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being constructed land that was not decontaminated. Any high street Reigate lawyer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the buyers instructed a national conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Reigate. We have lived in Reigate for six years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to seek clarification need.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer already. What do they say? You must check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same ailment)
I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Reigate where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Reigate conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.
I inherited a studio flat in Reigate, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Reigate with over 90 years remaining are worth £197,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2080
You have 55 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £31,400 and £36,200 as well as professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.
I am looking for Reigate conveyancing quotes online. Can I be sure that all the Reigate firms that are listed on your website are on the lender conveyancing panel?
The solicitor and licensed conveyancing practices on our directory have assured us via an online form that they are on the bank panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the bank panel. To date we have not been informed by either a mortgage company or a member of the public that the data about a specific Reigate firm being on the bank conveyancing panel is incorrect.