Please could you recommend a Santander accepted Cwmbran conveyancing conveyancer who can have us moved in within a very limited time frame? Am I best advised to choose a high street Cwmbran practice or an online comparison site?

We would be happy to suggest some excellent Cwmbran conveyancing firms. Another option is to visit the main road in Cwmbran. Approach two or three law practices and ask to speak with a conveyancing solicitor for a quote. Mention your deadline together with the reasons and ask for a commitment on your deadline. Appoint the lawyer that appears most efficient.

I currently have a mortgage with TSB for my property in Cwmbran. Conveyancing was finalised 12 months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform TSB?

You must advise TSB before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of TSB’s mortgage conditions. It may be that TSB will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact TSB directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a TSB conveyancing panel solicitor.

The formalities of my purchase has taken place for my property in Cwmbran. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How do I make a complaint?

Almost all lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.

I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Cwmbran. My mortgage broker suggested a lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £200. A few days later, the conveyancer called me to say that they were not on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Lloyds panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I'm buying my first flat in Cwmbran with a loan from Nottingham Building Society. The developers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The sale representative advised me not disclose to my lawyer about the extras as it would put at risk my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.

Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Cwmbran in advance of retaining lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. The surveyor has said that some banks may refuse to issue a mortgage on this type of premises.

It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can look into this further with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Cwmbran. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Cwmbran especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Cwmbran.

I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Cwmbran which have about forty five years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Cwmbran is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the salability of the property. For most purchasers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Cwmbran conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Cwmbran - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Many Cwmbran leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the block set by the management company. Where you purchase the property you will have to meet this charge, normally quarterly during the year. This may be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal grounds. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a large figure, say about £25-£75 but you need to check as on occasion it could be prohibitively expensive. What prohibitions are there in the Cwmbran Lease? This question is important as a) areas could result in problems in the building as the common areas may begin to deteriorate if maintenance remain unpaid b) if the tenants have an issue with the managing agents you will want to have complete disclosure