Why do I have to pay up front for conveyancing in Great Barford?

If you are buying a property in Great Barford your lawyer will ask you to provide them with funds to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. Normally this is requested to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. If any down payment is payable against the sale price then this will be required immediately prior to exchange of contracts. The final balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer shortly before completion.

We are purchasing a flat in Great Barford. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a solicitor? At some point we will need to deposit money into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our monies?

Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.

There are a variety of conveyancing solicitors in Great Barford but how do I know who I should use?

It would be unwise to be tempted by the lowest Great Barford conveyancing costs illustration. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.

I have paid off my mortgage with Santander. I assume I don't need a Great Barford lawyer on the Santander panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?

If you have finished paying off your Santander mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Santander mortgage from the register. Santander, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:

1. but are not moving to another property
2. where Santander has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
3. Santander has instructed the Land Registry to do so

I am buying a new build house in Great Barford benefiting from help to buy. The developers refused to move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The property agent told me not inform my lawyer about this side-deal as it would impact my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.

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 input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Great Barford prior to appointing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor has said that some banks may not give a mortgage on such a house.

It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions from Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can check via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Great Barford. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Great Barford especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Great Barford.

I work for a busy estate agent office in Great Barford where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Great Barford conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

I own a studio flat in Great Barford, conveyancing having been completed in 2008. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding properties in Great Barford with over 90 years remaining are worth £190,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2084

With only 62 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £17,100 and £19,800 plus legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.