I am assisting my mother sell her flat in Ambleside. Will the conveyancer arrange an energy performance certificate or it is for the seller to coordinate?

Following the demise of Home Packs, energy performance certificates remained a compulsory element of selling a property. An EPC needs to be commissioned prior to the property being marketed. This is not something that law firms normally arrange. Where you are instructing a Ambleside conveyancing practitioner they might be willing to arrange EPC’s given their relationships with reputable Ambleside assessors

I just bought a property at auction in Ambleside. Conveyancing is necessary. What is next?

Now that you have legally bound yourself to purchase you must find a conveyancing lawyer quickly as you now have a fast approaching a fixed date to complete the deal. All auction property will have a corresponding auction pack. This will likely include evidence of title and search results. If you have purchased leasehold premises the conveyancing papers should contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation pertinent to leasehold premises. You need to hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor ASAP. Do make sure that you have funds in order to complete the transaction on the set completion date.

Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Coventry BS. Ambleside conveyancing solicitors have been chosen. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Coventry BS?

There is no definitive answer here. Have Coventry BS completed the valuation? Have you informed Coventry BS as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.

I am buying a property and the lawyer has referenced Chancel Repair to which the property may be liable given it’s proximity to the area of such a church. She has recommended insurance. Is this strictly warranted for conveyancing in Ambleside

Unless a previous purchase of the house took place after 12 October 2013 you can assume that lawyers conducting conveyancing in Ambleside to remain recommending a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.

I'm buying my first flat in Ambleside with the aid of help to buy. The sellers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The estate agent suggested that I not inform my solicitor about the extras as it would jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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 opted to have a survey done on a house in Ambleside in advance of appointing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. My surveyor advised that some banks may not grant a mortgage on a flying freehold property.

It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different instructions from Halifax. If you call us we can check with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Ambleside. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Ambleside from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ambleside can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale. Many freeholders or managing agents in Ambleside charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ambleside. A minority of Ambleside leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers. If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Ambleside - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

It is important to be aware whether fixing the lift or some other major work is anticipated that will be shared amongst the leaseholders and may well dramatically increase the the maintenance costs or require a one off payment. The prefered form of lease arrangement is where the freehold interest is owned by the leaseholders. In this situation the tenants enjoy control and even though a managing agent is frequently retained if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. You will want to discover as much as possible about the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are often at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to day to day issues like the upkeep of the communal areas. You should not be afraid to ask other people what they think of them. Finally, be sure you discover the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the relevant party and specifically what you get for your money.