I have just been advised by my mortgage adviser that my South Woodford property lawyer is not on the lender Solicitor panel. What can I do to be sure whether this is correct?
The sensible course of action for you to take is to contact your South Woodford conveyancer. You lawyer should inform you what has happened. Where they are not on the panel they may recommend you to a South Woodford conveyancing firm that is on the approved list of lawyers for your mortgage company.
I am buying a property for cash in South Woodford. I have been residing for the previous Seventeen years in South Woodford. Conveyancing searches are a lot of money. Given that I know the road and vicinity very well must I have all the conveyancing searches?
If you not getting a mortgage, then almost all of the South Woodford conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your conveyancer will try and steer you, perhaps strongly, that you should have searches carried out, but he is duty bound to take that path of encouragement . Do consider; if you are likely to sell the house at a future date, it will likely be be of relevance to your future buyer what the searches contain. On occasion premises with no practical issues can still show up unexpected search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in South Woodford will be able to give you some practical guidance in this regard.
I have been recommended a conveyancing solicitor in South Woodford. I need to find out if they are accepted on the Nationwide Building Society conveyancing panel. Could you or the lender confirm if they are on the panel?
You should phone your solicitor and enquire whether they are on the lender panel. Alternatively you should call Nationwide Building Society who may be able to help.
My relative advised me that if I am buying in South Woodford I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your South Woodford conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about South Woodford around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the South Woodford Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning South Woodford.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £235,500 and identified one round the corner in South Woodford I like with open areas and railway links nearby, however it only has 51 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in South Woodford suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be an issue. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.
I am employed by a long established estate agent office in South Woodford where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local South Woodford conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has been the owner 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 need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.
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 buyer.
I have had difficulty in seeking a lease extension in South Woodford. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
Where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a South Woodford property is 135 Maybank Road in January 2013. The Tribunal determined that the price to be paid by the tenants for the grant of a new lease is £10,592 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 71.2 years.