Newcastle Solicitors

Can either party withdraw from a trasaction before exchange ?

The answer is yes and this means the parties will have wasted costs spent which will not be recovered regardless of fault. If you suspect this could happen or that the buyer/seller are not serious there are steps that can be considered which should be discussed with the conveyancer.

Surveys

• Valuation normally arranged by lender  but this is very basic
• Contact your lender or broker and ask about other surveys available

Buildings insurance

• Risk normally passes to the buyer on exchange of contracts
• If you are a leaseholder, the lease will provide who is responsible for the insurance.

Non-payment of mortgage

Non-payment of mortgage may lead to repossession proceedings. The lender is then entitled to sell the property and take the proceeds of sale. If there is still amount outstanding, the lender can recover the money from you by taking legal action.

What is a transfer of equity?

A transfer of equity is a transfer of a share in the beneficial ownership of a property. It may or may not involve a change in the legal ownership, but commonly involves someone being removed from or added to the legal title to a property. Commonly, transfers of equity will be accompanied by a remortgage.

The most common circumstances giving rise to the need for a transfer of equity are:

• Divorce or separation – following divorce or separation one partner may be removed from the ownership of a house. Depending on the agreed settlement this may involve a cash payment by the remaining owner to purchase the departing owner’s interest.
• Marriage or living together – typically this is where a person is added to the ownership and title.

In cases involving the removal of a party from ownership of a property where a mortgage exists the mortgage company will first need to give consent for the simple reason that the mortgage company will often prefer to have several people jointly and severally liable for the mortgage debt, so if a person is no longer to be liable the lender must consent to this.

What is a contract race?

It is entirely lawful for a seller to be able to offers a property to more than one buyer usually on the basis that the first one to exchange contracts gets the property. However, the seller is obliged (by conduct rules governing his/her/their solicitor to inform all parties concerned if contracts have gone out to more than one Buyer and the terms of the race. If you lose out on a contract race you cannot claim your lost expenses from the Seller

What is ‘Building Regulations Consent’?

Where work has been carried out to property, or the property has recently been built, Buildings Regulations, enforced by the relevant Local Authority or Council, control the methods and materials used to ensure that safe and proper standards have been maintained throughout. The lack of Building Regulations Consent may suggest the works were not constructed to the proper standards of the local authority and enforcement action can be taken. A buyers solicitor is duty bound (and will be negligent if they do not) to consider, in acting for both buyer and lender, whether there may have been any works carried out to a property being bought, which may have needed such consent, and whether such consent was in fact obtained

What is meant by ‘share of freehold’?

Recently it has become common for leaseholders to acquire the freehold from the landlord using a limited company in which they each have a share. When a property is marketed for sale, agents will often describe it has having ‘share of freehold’ included. This generally refers to the share in the company which owns the freehold. People believe owning a share in the freehold allows them to have more of a say in the way in which the building is managed. This is technically true, but  is not always as positive as it sounds as good management will rely on the leaseholders working together and if they do not, this can have implications. It does not mean that you have a ‘freehold flat’, as the lease still exists and has to be complied with, it means that your main interest is then long leasehold and you will also have a share in the freehold interest.

What types of Survey are there and should I have one done?

There are 3  main options:-

• A basic valuation – this is normally undertaken for the benefit of the mortgage lender even though the buyer pays for it, and is mandatory with a mortgage. It is a very limited report and really involves very little practical inspection of the property.
• A Home Buyers Report & Valuation – this type of report has to be undertaken by a qualified surveyor and is something of a “half way house”. It is worth being aware that even with this type of survey, in-depth inspection is not generally carried out.
• A Full Structural Survey -most buyers do not have such a survey because of the cost involved.  It will be an in depth report.

What are the potential problems of buying ex-council flats ?

There can be a fundamental drawback to buying these types of properties. This is because Councils are being required by the Government to update their properties, and such costs are ultimately passed on to leaseholders.  It is not unusual for these “major works” to result in costs exceeding £20,000 per flat, which can be a startling extra expense, but even worse than this, when buying such a flat, it can be impossible to find out what the likely costs are for such future major works.