It has taken forever and a day but a mortgage offer from Nationwide for the refinancing of my 3 room apartment is expected by the end of next week. Can you suggest a cheap conveyancing lawyer in Buckden?
You are on the wrong site if you are in need of a cheap conveyancing in Buckden. Our goal is to offer value for money conveyancing but we do not work with the cheapest lawyers. Resist the temptation to appoint organisations teasing you with ninety nine pound conveyancing in Buckden. In your best case scenario, in being led by cheap conveyancing, you will end up with what you pay for and at worst you will end up paying a lot in additional fees and still not end up with the service required.
Completed the sale of my flat in Buckden last July but the buyer keeps Skype messaging every few hours complaining that his conveyancer needs to hear from mine. What should have happened following completion?
Post completion of your house sale your solicitor should deliver the transfer documentation and all of the paperwork to the purchaser's lawyers. Depending on the transaction, your solicitor must also send confirmation that the home loan has been redeemed to the buyers solicitors. There is unlikely to be post completion formalities unique to conveyancing in Buckden.
About to place an offer on a leasehold flat in Buckden. The property agents tell me that it is standard for flats in Buckden to have less than 75 years remaining. I am expecting a mortgage with Nationwide Building Society. Will the property be mortgageable given that the lease has 69 years left.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are getting 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 23/2/2026 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.
I am the single recipient of my late mum's estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Buckden. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in January. I want to move. I understand that there is a CML six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership may be considered the same way as though I had purchased the property in January. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook obliges conveyancers 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 caught by that. How sensible a view lenders take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this obligation chiefly exists to capture subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
Is it correct that all Buckden CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing list of approved practices?
Some major lenders now use the accreditation scheme as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.
We had chosen conveyancing lawyers based in Buckden on the RBS solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me a supplemental fee for dealing with the RBS mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by RBS?
As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your property lawyer can levy a fee for this. This fee is not set by RBS but by your Buckden conveyancing practitioner. Numerous firms on the RBS panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a property in Buckden in advance of appointing solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. The surveyor advised that some banks tend refuse to grant a loan on this type of house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. If you call us we can check with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Buckden. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Buckden to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.