I own a freehold premises in Holly Village but still pay rent, why is this and what is this?

It’s unusual for properties in Holly Village and has limited impact for conveyancing in Holly Village but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.

Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for hundreds of years, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.

Previous rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence after 2037 will be dispensed with completely.

My wife and I are at the point of viewing houses in Holly Village and I am about to put in an offer. Is it premature to have a solicitor in place? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Kent Reliance.

You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the selling agent. Given that you are getting a mortgage with Kent Reliance, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.

I currently have a mortgage with TSB for my property in Holly Village. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. Should I wish 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?

TSB must be informed of your intention before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of TSB’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies 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.

Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Holly Village. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?

Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Holly Village?

Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Holly Village. 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…’

The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Holly Village. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.

Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Holly Village

Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. The Vendor must covenant to keep unoccupied units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided.

Is it possible to change firm as I need to instruct one who is on the Barclays conveyancing list. I was using a high street conveyancing solicitor in Holly Village five minutes from me but the firm is not approved by Barclays

It would be our pleasure to help you find a conveyancing solicitor in Holly Village on the Barclays panel. Please note that the property lawyers that we list do not pay us fee if you instruct them and are under regulation of the SRA who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Holly Village. Using search facility on this site, you can contrast charges for conveyancing solicitors in Holly Village and throughout England and Wales.