What will a local search inform me regarding the property my wife and I buying in Covent Garden?

Covent Garden conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company such as Searchflow The local search plays an important part in most Covent Garden conveyancing purchase; that is if you wish to avoid any unpleasant surprises after you move into your property. The search will provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic areas.

How does conveyancing in Covent Garden differ for new build properties?

Most buyers of new build premises in Covent Garden contact us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is ready to move into. This is because developers in Covent Garden usually buy the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Covent Garden or who has acted in the same development.

I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and identified one round the corner in Covent Garden I like with amenity areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Covent Garden in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?

Should you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be an issue. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.

We're new to the buying process - had an offer accepted, yet the estate agent advised that the owners will only proceed if we use their preferred conveyancers as they want a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a local conveyancer who is familiar with conveyancing in Covent Garden

We suspect that the owner is not behind this ultimatum. If they require ‘a quick sale', alienating a serious purchaser is going to damage their objectives. Avoid the agents and go straight to the sellers and explain that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances arranged © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you are going to use your preferred Covent Garden conveyancing solicitors - as opposed tothose that will provide the negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or meet his conveyancing targets pre-set by head office.

I own a leasehold flat in Covent Garden. Conveyancing was finished in five years ago. I have read on various advice forums that I mustn’t allow the lease length fall too short. Why is that a problem?

Covent Garden residential long term leases are for a fixed term - usually ninety nine years when they started. However a significant appartments in Covent Garden were constructed or converted 35 or more years ago and so these leases now have fewer than eighty years remaining. That may seem like a long time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders on the whole require leases to have a minimum of seventy five years left to be mortgageable. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are getting close to seventy five years. To optimize your property value you should be thinking about whether or not to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. Please note that there are significant benefits to doing so before the lease reaches even 80 years as when the lease is less than eighty years the premium to be paid to extend starts to escalate.