I am acquiring a house for cash in Wendover. I have resided for the last twelve years in Wendover. Conveyancing searches are expensive. Given that I have knowledge of the road and vicinity intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?

In the absence of a home loan, then all but one or two of the Wendover conveyancing searches are at your discretion. Your conveyancer will ’encourage you, perhaps strongly, that you should have searches completed, but she is duty bound to take that path of guidance. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to sell the house one day, it could be of importance to your prospective buyer what the searches contain. On occasion premises with apparent issues can still show up unpredicted search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Wendover will be able to give you some sensible guidance concerning this.

I have been told that property searches are the primary cause of stalling in Wendover house deals. Is there any truth in this?

The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the top 10 causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Wendover.

How does conveyancing in Wendover differ for new build properties?

Most buyers of new build property in Wendover come to us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is constructed. This is because new home sellers in Wendover usually purchase the land, 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 used to new build conveyancing in Wendover or who has acted in the same development.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £195,000 and identified one close by in Wendover I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Wendover for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will be an issue. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to sub-let our Wendover garden flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Wendover conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

The lease dictates relations between the freeholder and you the flat owner; in particular, it will set out if subletting is banned, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is permitted. Most leases in Wendover do not prevent strict prohibition on subletting – such a clause would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually simply a requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly supplying a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Wendover - Sample of Queries before buying

Is anyone aware of any major works in the planning that will likely increase the service charges? It is important to be aware if changing the roof or some other significant cost is coming up to be shared by the tenants and may well dramatically increase the the maintenance fees or result in a one off payment. Many Wendover leasehold apartments will have a service bill for the upkeep of the building invoiced on behalf of the management company. Should you buy the property you will have to meet this amount, usually in instalments during the year. This could differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a large amount, say approximately £50-£100 but you need to enquire it because occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds.