At what point will exchange of contracts occur in residential conveyancing in Barton le Willows and do I need to attend the solicitors office?
Where you are local to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Barton le Willows you are welcome to come in to sign contracts. That being said, the lender approved solicitors we recommend offer countrywide coverage for conveyancing and provide just as detailed and professional a job for you when dealing with you by post or email. The signing of the contract is not the point of no return. Signing on the dotted line is necessary for the firm to exchange contracts when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The procedure is is usually a five minute process, although where an extended "chain" is involved, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Barton le Willows)to be in the office at the appropriate time.
I am about to put an offer on a leasehold property in Barton le Willows. The property agents assure me that it is standard for flats in Barton le Willows to have less than 75 years left on the lease. I am expecting a mortgage with Nationwide Building Society. Is this going to be acceptable if the lease has 69 years remaining.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are securing a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Nationwide Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 13/2/2025 the requirements read as follows :
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years.
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period is less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 55 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial, etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined)
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn Ground Rent (Annual Rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any New Build properties completed but not sold pre-30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the Lease conforms to the above guidance.
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years.
Lease Extensions
We require all Lease Extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to Issuing Office.
Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
Have just purchased a repossessed house at auction in Barton le Willows. Conveyancing is necessary. What are my next steps?
Having exchanged you will need to retain a conveyancing lawyer soon as you will have a fast approaching a fixed date to complete the transaction. All auction property will ordinarily have a bespoke legal pack. This should include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. In the case of leasehold property the legal papers should include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation relating to a leasehold property. You should give this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. You also need to ensure that you have funds in place to complete on the date specified in the contract.
We are planning to move house in March. Should my conveyancing solicitor communicate with the removal company on the completion day. As an aside, can you recommend a removal company in Barton le Willows. Conveyancing solicitor was chosen before I stumbled across your page.
On the afternoon of completion you can collect the house keys from the property agent however this should only be done after the sellers conveyancers confirm to the agent that they have the completion monies and the keys can be collected. Subsequently you will need to advise the removal company that they can start moving you in. We are not in a position to recommend a specific removal organisation but can help you find a conveyancing in Barton le Willows or a legal practice with expertise in conveyancing in Barton le Willows.
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Barton le Willows. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Almost all lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service with full details of your complaint.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Barton le Willows is the location of the property. Is there any advice you can give?
Flying freeholds in Barton le Willows are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Barton le Willows you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Barton le Willows may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
I have been informed by various family members that it may take 6-8 weeks for Barton le Willows conveyancing to complete.This was 3 ago. The draft contract was only received from the vendors conveyancer a couple of days ago so does the clock start running now?
There is no official timeframe for conveyancing in Barton le Willows, or any area in the UK. You just have to make sure your finances are in place and wait for the rest to come together.