My partner’s step-father is a solicitor. I am hopeful that I will receive friends and family rates for conveyancing, but if not, what kind of fees would I typically be looking at for conveyancing in St Albans?
It’s prudent to seek 3 or more like-for-like conveyancing quotes. Make use of our comparison tool on this site. You will notice that charges do contrast greatly but service levels do are distinct between law firms as is the case with most professions.
It is 10 years ago since I acquired my house in St Albans. Conveyancing lawyers have just been retained on the sale but I am unable to locate my deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be retained by your lender or they may be in the possession of the lawyers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in all probability the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors procuring up to date copy of the land registers. Most conveyancing in St Albans relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is not registered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in St Albans. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in St Albans
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Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one close by in St Albans I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in St Albans suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this.
What does commercial conveyancing in St Albans cover?
Non domestic conveyancing in St Albans covers a wide array of advice, offered by qualified solicitors, relating to business premises. For instance, this area of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more commonly, the transfer of existing business tenancies or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial loans and the termination of tenancies.
I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in St Albans where we see a number of flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local St Albans conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer 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 has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible 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.
Leasehold Conveyancing in St Albans - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying
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Who are the managing agents? Best to be warned if a new roof is being installed or some other major work is coming up that will be shared by the leasehold owners and will dramatically increase the the maintenance charges or result in a one off invoice. If a St Albans lease has less than 80 years it will impact the marketability of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are happy with residual term of the lease. A short lease means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most St Albanslease extensions you will need to own the residence for a couple of years in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension.