Finally the sale completed on my house in Whitchurch last October yet the purchaser is telephoning daily to say their lawyer is waiting to hear from mysolicitor. What should have happened now that I have sold?
Following your house sale your lawyer is duty bound to forward the transfer documentation and all supplemental paperwork to the purchaser's lawyers. Where relevant, your solicitor must also confirm that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been redeemed to the purchasers conveyancers. There is unlikely to be post completion requirements unique to conveyancing in Whitchurch.
A relative suggested that where I am purchasing in Whitchurch 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 usually included in the estimate for your Whitchurch conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Whitchurch around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Whitchurch Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Whitchurch Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Whitchurch.
Me and my brother purchased a terraced Victorian house in Whitchurch. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and The Royal Bank of Scotland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. Is it worth asking The Royal Bank of Scotland to clarify?
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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Whitchurch and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
I am purchasing my first flat in Whitchurch with a loan from Yorkshire Building Society. The sellers would not move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The sale representative advised me not to tell my lawyer about this deal as it may jeopardize my mortgage with Yorkshire Building Society. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one close by in Whitchurch I like with a park and station in the vicinity, however it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Whitchurch for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
Should you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be an issue. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently found out that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Whitchurch. Conveyancing advisers have not yet been appointed. Will they explain the issues?
Most houses in Whitchurch are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Whitchurch so you should seriously consider looking for a Whitchurch conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example obtaining the freeholder’spermission to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should appraise you on the various issues.
I purchased a 2 bed flat in Whitchurch, conveyancing having been completed in 2001. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Whitchurch with over 90 years remaining are worth £206,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease terminates on 21st October 2091
With 66 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £12,400 and £14,200 plus legals.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.