I am purchasing a house without a mortgage in Steyning. I have resided for the previous twelve years in Steyning. Conveyancing searches are a lot of money. Given that I know the road and vicinity intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?
Provided that you do not need a home loan, then almost all of the Steyning conveyancing searches are at your discretion. Your lawyer will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches completed, but she has a professional duty to do this. Do bear in mind; if you are likely to dispose of the house in the future, it will be of interest to your prospective buyer what the searches reveal. Sometimes premises with no practical issues can still show up unfavourable search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Steyning will be able to give you some constructive advice concerning this.
It is a dozen years since I bought my property in Steyning. Conveyancing lawyers have just been appointed on the sale but I am unable to track down my deeds. Is this a major issue?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a possibility that the deeds will be retained by the lender or they may still be with the lawyers who oversaw your purchase. Secondly in all probability the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Steyning involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.
We had chosen solicitors locally in Steyning on the Bank of Ireland solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me a separate sum for dealing with the Bank of Ireland mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Bank of Ireland?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your conveyancer is entitled to charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Bank of Ireland but by your Steyning solicitor. Some firms on the Bank of Ireland panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
I am due to exchange contracts on my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in March 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Kent Reliance are being a right pain. The Steyning solicitor who is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Kent Reliance are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Kent Reliance have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Kent Reliance have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Kent Reliance may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
Nationwide have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a flat in Steyning has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
The estate agent will wish to be informed of your solicitor's details (ensure that the solicitors are on the lender’s panel). Telephone Nationwide or the broker and finish off any outstanding forms. Nationwide will sellect a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or owners to schedule an appointment. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes on average a week to get a mortgage offer. Nationwide will send the offer to you and your property lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Steyning.
My friend advised me that where I am purchasing in Steyning 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 sometimes included in the estimate for your Steyning conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Steyning around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Steyning.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. Steyning is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Steyning are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Steyning you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Steyning may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
I work for a long established estate agency in Steyning where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Steyning conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?
Provided that 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 can avoid having 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 simultaneously with completion of the sale.
An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.
I inherited a studio flat in Steyning, conveyancing formalities finalised December 2002. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable properties in Steyning with a long lease are worth £176,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2106
With 80 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £8,600 and £9,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.