Willappointing a Southsea conveyancing lawyer make the ownership transfer smoother?
On the whole conveyancing lawyers in your neck of the woods will benefit from strong alliances with your local authority, which could assist with your Southsea conveyancing searches that your conveyancer will need to carry out. It can only be a plus if they have good relationships with the Land Registry covering your area Southsea, other lawyers in the area and Southsea Estate Agents.
Me and my brother purchased a 4 bedroom Victorian property in Southsea. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Chelsea Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Southsea and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.
How does conveyancing in Southsea differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Southsea come to us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is completed. This is because builders in Southsea tend to purchase the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Southsea or who has acted in the same development.
I'm remortgaging my current home to a BTL mortgage with National Westminster Bank and intend to use the remaining equity as a deposit on further house. The location we are interested in is Southsea. Will your lawyers be able to act for the two mortgage companies and link together the transactions?
Do use our comparison tool on this page to ensure that the lawyers are approved by both banks. Having checked that they are your conveyancer should be able to tie up the two deals but you should have a chat with you conveyancer and make apparent your expectations and requirements.
I've recently bought a leasehold property in Southsea. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
Southsea Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying
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Be sure to find out if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Southsea. If you like the propertyin Southsea however your cat can’t make the move with you then you will be presented with a hard decision. Many Southsea leasehold properties will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the building levied by the landlord. Where you buy the property you will have to meet this contribution, normally periodically during the year. This can differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a large amount, say about £25-£75 but you need to enquire as sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds. It is important to be aware if redecorating or some other significant cost is anticipated that will be shared by the tenants and will materially increase the the maintenance charges or require a one off payment.
I have today had an offer accepted on a leasehold flat in Southsea and the mortgage adviser that we are using recommended his lawyer. They quoted £1000 plus VAT and disbursements. Does this sound steep?
You should not rely on a single quote. One should seek like-for-like quotes for your conveyancing in Southsea. Then choose one that you are comfortable with and just as important, is on the approved list of the lender that you are sourcing your mortgage from.