Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Conwy?

Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Conwy. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and found one round the corner in Conwy I like with amenity areas and station nearby, however it's only got 51 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Conwy for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a mortgage that many years will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.

Am I best advised to instruct a Conwy conveyancing lawyer based in the area that I am hoping to buy? I have an old university friend who can perform the legal work but her office is approximately 350miles away.

The benefit of a high street Conwy conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to sign paperwork, hand in your identification documents and apply pressure on them where appropriate. Having local Conwy know how is a plus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If if people you trust instructed your friend and on the whole were content that must outweigh using an unfamiliar Conwy conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being Conwy based.

Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold house in Conwy. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Conwy who previously acted has long since retired. What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Conwy conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am the registered owner of a split level flat in Conwy, conveyancing having been completed April 1996. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Conwy with an extended lease are worth £206,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2091

With just 66 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.

We had our mortgage agreed in principle yesterday with our bank. We have retained a reputable conveyancer in Conwy yesterday. Today, our broker contacted us saying that the bank said that we cannot use our solicitor as they aren't on their 'approved list'. As novices, we did not have a clue that the mortgage company had some control over our choice Is this allowed?

You are at liberty to choose any property lawyer you want to select including the said conveyancer in Conwy nevertheless if they are not on the your lender's approved list you must fork out an extra fee so your lender can retain their own conveyancer too. It may be conceivable that your preferred conveyancing firm to get included on to the bank panel. You can use web-based search facilities such as lenderpanel.com to find a conveyancing solcitor in Conwy on the mortgage company panel. You can go into your local mortgage company branch in Conwy. They can recommend conveyancing solicitors in Conwy on the approved list.