The owners of the house we are purchasing hired a conveyancing practitioner in Whimple who has insisted on a exclusivity agreement with a payment of 5k. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?

Exclusivity agreements are agreements binding a home seller and prospective buyer giving the buyer a ‘clear field’ to the sale of the property within an agreed time frame. For all intents and purposes, a lock out is a document stating that you should receive a contract at a later time being the contract for the actual sale. It is generally utilised for buyer assurance though in many situations, the seller may stand to benefit from such agreements as well. There are various positives and negatives to having them but you should to check with your solicitor but beware that it may end up costing you extra in conveyancing charges. For this these contracts are avoided when it comes to conveyancing in Whimple.

We are purchasing a house and the lawyer has raised the issue of Chancel Repair for which the house may be obligated to pay given it’s proximity to the area of such a church. She has recommended insurance. Is this strictly necessary for conveyancing in Whimple

Unless a prior acquisition of the premises took place after 12 October 2013 you could take it that lawyers conducting conveyancing in Whimple to remain encouraging a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.

My wife and I have a semi-detached Edwardian property in Whimple. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Leeds Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Whimple and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also enquire as to the position with the conveyancing solicitor who carried out the work.

I have been on the look out for a flat up to £305k and found one near me in Whimple I like with open areas and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 49 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Whimple for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?

Should you need a mortgage that many years may be an issue. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Whimple from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Whimple can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Whimple state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Where you dont have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance. If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing. Some Whimple leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors. The majority of freeholders or Management Companies in Whimple charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Whimple.

I invested in buying a basement flat in Whimple, conveyancing was carried out April 2006. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar flats in Whimple with over 90 years remaining are worth £255,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2099

With only 74 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.