I require conveyancing for an apartment in a fairly new development (five years old) in St Helier. 95% of the properties are already disposed of. Do I need carry out the local searches for my conveyancing in St Helier?
If you getting a mortgage, your bank will require some (many) of the searches so you'll have no choice. If not, then St Helier conveyancing searches are for you to decide upon. Your solicitor, will ’encourage’, perhaps strongly, that you should have the searches done, but he or she has a professional duty to do this. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches contain. Sometimes houses with no practical issues can still throw up adverse search results. But if you insist that your lawyer to proceed without searches then your lawyer will have to follow your instructions or you will need to switch to an alternative solicitor for your conveyancing in St Helier.
I used Action Conveyancing several years ago for my conveyancing in St Helier. I now require my file but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in St Helier of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
How does conveyancing in St Helier differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build property in St Helier contact us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is built. This is because developers in St Helier typically buy the real estate, 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 property lawyers 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in St Helier or who has acted in the same development.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £305k and identified one close by in St Helier I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in St Helier suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.
I've recently bought a leasehold property in St Helier. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee 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).
I own a a ground floor purpose built flat in St Helier. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?
You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a St Helier conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a St Helier property is Buchanan Court 39 Vernon Road in April 2010. the Tribunal assessed that the premium payable for the freehold of the block should be £44,000. This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 66.67 years.
We own a leasehold flat in St Helier. Conveyancing was finished in 2009. I have been told that I mustn’t allow the the remaining lease term to get too short. Why is that a problem?
St Helier leasehold properties are for a prescribed term - usually 99 years when they commenced. However a significant appartments in St Helier were built or converted in the 70’s80’s and so such leases now have under 80 years left to run. This may seem like plenty of time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage companies generally require leases to have a minimum of 75 years left to adequate security. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are getting close to 75 years. To increase the marketability of your property you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. There are also advantages to doing so before the lease reaches even eighty years as when the lease is below 80 years the premium you have to pay to extend starts to get a lot more expensive.