We are buying a victorian detached house in Sutton. Our aim is to carry out an extension to the side at the house.Will legal conveyancing on the property include enquiries to see if these alterations are prohibited?
Your conveyancer should check the deeds as conveyancing in Sutton will sometimes reveal restrictions in the title deeds which restrict certain works or require the permission of a 3rd party. Certain extensions need local authority planning consent and approval in compliance with building regulations. Certain areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. It would be prudent to check these issues with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
We are getting the release of further funds on our mortgage from Santander as we intend to carry out a loft conversion to our home in Sutton. Are we obliged to select a bricks and mortar Sutton solicitor on the Santander conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Santander do not ordinarily instruct a member of their approved list of lawyers to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Santander list.
My offer on a house in Sutton has been agreed to, but there is a chain. The owners have placed an offer on on an apartment, but it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. I have chosen a high street conveyancing solicitor in Sutton. What should be my next step? When should I get the mortgage application with Principality going?
It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs too early (home loan application is in the region of £1k, then survey, Sutton conveyancing search fees, etc). The first course of action is to ensure that your lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel. As to the subsequent phase this very much depends on the circumstances of your transaction, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market some purchasers would apply for a home loan with Principality and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their lawyer to proceed with the conveyancing in Sutton.
A colleague recommended that if I am purchasing in Sutton I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Sutton conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Sutton around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Sutton Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Sutton.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Sutton?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Sutton. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Sutton before retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. My surveyor advised that some mortgage companies will refuse to grant a loan on a flying freehold house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can look into this further with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Sutton. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I wish to sublet my leasehold flat in Sutton. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for permission?
Notwithstanding that your previous Sutton conveyancing solicitor is no longer available you can check your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the apartment. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to obtain consent from your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet without prior consent. The consent should not be unreasonably withheld. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.
We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Sutton. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
in cases where there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to calculate the premium.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Sutton flat 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 related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 66.67 years.
Are you able to shed any light on the aspects of conveyancing undertaken by Sutton conveyancing organisations?
Most Sutton conveyancing firms tend to conduct various legal advice to residential and agricultural land proprietors, vendors, investors, landlords and leaseholders such as:
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Residential sale conveyancing in Sutton and beyond
Domestic purchase conveyancing in Sutton and beyond
Declarations of Trust for family and other joint ownership Sale and purchase of shared ownership properties nationally rather than just Sutton Non-contentious landlord & tenant matters Establish or vary arrangements with neighbouring premises