I am under pressure from the mortgagee in possession of a property in Winchester to sign contracts within four weeks. What can be done to hasten the legal process?

Where you are under pressure for your conveyancing it is advisable to make sure that your conveyancer is familiar with the location as they will benefit local connections and know-how. It is possible that they could have transacted previoushouses in the same street. You would be best advised to use a Winchester conveyancing lawyer. In addition, ensure that the lawyer is on the lender panel. It is claimed that just under twenty per cent of Winchester conveyancing transactions are frustrated or derailed after discovering a buyer’s lawyer was not on their banks member panel. In many cases this discovery resulted in the conveyancing being frustrated by an average of 21 days. It is understood that this issue impacts in the region of 100,000 home sales annually. Most Winchester conveyancing firms can not represent certain lenders so do check at the outset.

Will my solicitor be asking questions concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in Winchester.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers dealing with homes in Winchester. Plenty of people will buy a property in Winchester, fully expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.

Solicitors are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, but there are a various checks that may be carried out by the purchaser or by their conveyancers which can figure out the risks in Winchester. The standard completed inquiry forms sent to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a standard question of the owner to find out if the property has historically flooded. If the property has been flooded in past which is not revealed by the seller, then a buyer may issue a claim for damages as a result of such an incorrect response. The purchaser’s solicitors will also conduct an enviro search. This will reveal whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries should be made.

Me and my brother purchased a terraced Victorian house in Winchester. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Nationwide Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the matching property. Is it worth asking Nationwide Building Society to clarify?

You should assess 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 owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Winchester and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage 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 solicitor who conducted the purchase.

I have been on the look out for a flat up to £235,500 and found one close by in Winchester I like with amenity areas and railway links nearby, however it's only got 49 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Winchester in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?

Should you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be problematic. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign 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 solicitor about this matter.

I work for a long established estate agency in Winchester where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Winchester conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Winchester Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

It would be wise to discover as much as possible regarding the managing agents as they can either make your living at the property much simpler or uncomfortable. As the owner of a leasehold property you are often in the clutches of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to day to day matters like the tidiness of the communal areas. Enquire of other people what they think of their service. Finally, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the relevant party and precisely how they are spending that money. On the whole the cost for major works are not included within service charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Winchester obliged leaseholders to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for major works. The answer will be useful as a) areas can cause problems for the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will need to have all the details