We were just about to sign contracts for a semi detached house in St Annes. We have hit a snag. Our loan offer with Skipton Building Society runs out on 30/6/2025 but the owners are insisting on a completion date of 2/7/2025. Can one prolong the loan offer?
The best person to deal with your question is your solicitors who will hopefully determine if he or she is better off negotiating with the lender, seller’s lawyers, estate agents or indeed all three based on what has happend in your house move as of today.
I have a decision in principle. The bank mentioned the home loan came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to appoint their panel solicitor as I would prefer to use a high street conveyancing solicitor in St Annes?
Do check but the the probability is that appoint one of their panel conveyancers should you accept the "fee-free" deal. Speak to the bank to explore if they offer you a cash alternative. It is not unheard for a lender to give a £250 cashback as an alternative in which case you could put that amount towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor near St Annes.
I have a terraced Georgian property in St Annes. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Alliance & Leicester . I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You need to review 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 St Annes 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 purchasers. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £305k and identified one round the corner in St Annes I like with open areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in St Annes for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
Should you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you could ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.
I work for a reputable estate agent office in St Annes where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local St Annes conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?
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 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 prior to, or at the same time as 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 buyer.
St Annes Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing
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The answer will be important as a) areas could result in problems for the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where services remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the managing agents you will need to know about it The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the leaseholders enjoy control and even though a managing agent is frequently retained where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Many St Annes leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for maintenance of the block levied by the management company. Should you acquire the property you will have to meet this charge, normally periodically during the year. This could differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a exorbitant sum, say about £50-£100 but you need to enquire as on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds.
I am looking to buy a house and need a conveyancing solicitor in St Annes who is on the mortgage company approved panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for the bank who carry out conveyancing in St Annes. We dont recommend any particular firm.