The property market in Sittingbourne is hotting up. What can I do to speed up the conveyancing process?
In a situation where you are under time constraints for your conveyancing it is highly recommended that your solicitor is familiar with the location as they will benefit local contacts and intelligence. It is possible that they would have transacted otherhouses in the same road. You would be best advised to use a Sittingbourne conveyancing firm. In addition, double check that the conveyancing firm is on the lender panel. It is estimated that 18% of Sittingbourne conveyancing deals are delayed or jeopardised after discovering a purchaser’s solicitor was not on their banks member panel. In many cases this discovery resulted in the buying process being held up by almost three weeks. It is believed that this issue affects approximately one hundred thousand home sales annually. Many Sittingbourne conveyancing firms can not act for certain lenders so do check as early as possible.
I have a renovated Georgian property in Sittingbourne. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and . I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should read 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 Sittingbourne and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Sittingbourne I like with a park and transport links nearby, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Sittingbourne in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they start the process of the extension and then assign 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.