I happen to be the sole recipient of my late father’s will and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in St George. The St George property was put into my name in November. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', meaning my property ownership could be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the property in November. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook obliges solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. How sensible a view banks take of it, depend on the bank as this obligation principally exists to pick up on subsales or the flipping of property.
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in St George off the council. I have a mortgage offer with Skipton. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Skipton, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Skipton conveyancing panel.
I am selling my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in March 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Nottingham are being difficult. The St George solicitor who is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Nottingham are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Nottingham have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Nottingham have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Nottingham 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.
3 months have gone by since my purchase conveyancing in St George completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and identified one close by in St George I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in St George suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for at least 2 years you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
My husband and I are a fortnight into a leasehold purchase having been referred to a firm by the high street agent to perform conveyancing in St George. I am not happy. Can you help me find new lawyers?
A conveyancer would need to be very poor to suggest replacing them. Has your mortgage offer been sent? In the event that it has you need to advise them of the replacement conveyancer and get the mortgage documents are re-issued. The conveyancer should be on the lenders approved list to avoid supplemental fees and delays. That should be your first question of the new conveyancers. Our search tool should assist you in finding a bank approved solicitor for your conveyancing in St George
I bought a house in St George last 13/11/2024 and to date it is still not recorded with HMLR. It is part of a development site and my conveyancer told me that it can take one year to register. I have contacted the Land Registry directly and they say that the initial application was cancelled due to questions not being addressed in time. What can I do?
It is your lawyer that you should turn to here in order to satisfy any questions which have arisen as part of the registration formalities for your St George property. Normal St George conveyancing practice includes an undertaking on the part of the vendor’s property lawyer that they will assist in resolving any registration raised by HMLR so it may be a case of taking action to enforce that undertaking if necessary.