We have very assertive sellers who has suggested a lock out contract with a deposit two thousand pounds. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?
Lock out contracts are agreements between a property vendor and purchaser granting the buyer the sole right to purchase the property within a prescribed time frame. For all intents and purposes, a lock out agreement is a contract stating that you should have a contract at a later date which is the main conveyancing contract. It is generally used for buyer confidence though in many situations, the owner may stand to benefit from such agreements as well. There are numerous positives and negatives to using them but you need to check with your conveyancer but note that it may end up costing you more in conveyancing fees. For this these agreements are unusual in relation to conveyancing in Leyton.
Are all Leyton Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the RBS conveyancing panel?
Some major banks and building societies now utilise CQS as the kick off point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to join their panels.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Leyton. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £225. Not long after, the conveyancing practitioner called me to say that they were not on the RBS 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 RBS 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.
My sealed bid on a semi in Leyton has been accepted, the vendors do however have a connected purchase. The owners have placed an offer on a flat, however it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other properties booked. I have instructed a high street conveyancing solicitor in Leyton. What do I do now? At what stage should I apply for the mortgage with Principality?
It is normal to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (home loan application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, Leyton conveyancing search fees, etc). The first thing to do is check that your property lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel. Regarding the subsequent steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your case, motivation for the property and on the state of the market. In a hot market some purchasers will apply for the mortgage with Principality and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their solicitor to proceed with searches.
My friend advised me that if I am buying in Leyton I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually quoted for as part of the standard Leyton conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing significant information about Leyton around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Leyton Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Leyton Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Leyton.
My wife and I own a renovated Georgian property in Leyton. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Godiva Mortgages Ltd. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. Is it worth asking Godiva Mortgages Ltd to clarify?
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Leyton and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Leyton I like with open areas and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Leyton in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a mortgage that many years will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.