by Tony Lilleystone, Legal Manager
Get a quote for Conveyancing in Merseyside
Your Merseyside Conveyancing Solicitor can assist with the purchase of every type of home, be it a substantial detached house, a semi or terraced house, or a flat or similar leasehold apartment. If you have already found a new home to buy in Merseyside, or have found a buyer for your present property, you can quickly get a competitive quote for Conveyancing in Merseyside online. Online Conveyancing Quotes are a quick route to a Conveyancing Solicitor who will have local knowledge of the area combined with first-class professional expertise, to get you Fast Conveyancing service.
Merseyside is centred on the city of Liverpool, and extends north along the coast to Southport, and east to include St Helens and Newton-le-Willows. The northern part of the Wirral peninsula, with the towns of Birkenhead and Wallasey, forms part of the region.
You will receive expert advice on all aspects of the procedure, from initial instructions through to completion. Merseyside Conveyancers will be familiar with all aspects of the legal side of your property transaction, whatever type of property you are buying. For almost any home sale or purchase, the Conveyancing procedure generally follows the same form, but there will be a number of aspects of property Conveyancing in Merseyside that will receive particular attention:
Merseyside is covered by five local authorities, and a local search is made with the authority in which the house is located. These searches are made to check whether any local matters affect the property, especially in the areas of planning control and redevelopment.
The replies will give details of any planning consents granted and whether a Merseyside council has taken any enforcement action for breach of planning legislation. They will also give details of any proposals for new road and railway schemes or highway improvement works planned within the vicinity of the house.
Searches also state whether or not the property adjoins a road which has been adopted as a public highway. Traditional urban houses do usually face onto adopted, council-maintained roads, but homes on recent developments are now often served by small access roads which are not adopted. In that case, the Conveyancing Solicitor will have to check that there is a proper legal right of way over such road.
Although the local search will confirm if the council has a general development plan for the area, it will not show the existence of any planning consents or applications for nearby land. If this of concern, the Solicitor can arrange an additional search which will show any consents or applications within a 500m radius.
In June 2010, Merseyside Fridaysmove Conveyancing Solicitor Simon Crozier was acting for the buyers of an established freehold house in Hayes Drive, Melling Downs, Liverpool, Merseyside L31. Agents Greenbank Property Services of Melling Drive, Old Hall, Kirkby, Merseyside, L32 1TT had negotiated the sale, and the draft contract and papers were received from the sellers' Conveyancing Solicitors, Mooney & Everett of 30, Derby Street, Ormskirk, Liverpool L31 1BH.
From the replies to the local search with Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, it was noted that there was no record of planning permissions having been granted since 1974, and no record of the council having taken any enforcement action for breach of planning legislation. The search also provided the following information relating to development in the area:
SEFTON UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ADOPTED JUNE 2006 - PRIMARILY RESIDENTIAL AREA
THIS PROPERTY ABUTS THE BOROUGH BOUNDARY
THIS PROPERTY LIES CLOSE TO AN AREA DESIGNATED AS URBAN GREENSPACE
None of these matters would significantly affect the house or be of any concern to the buyer.
As an area which has long been associated with a wide variety of industries, there may well be worries about whether pollution or other environmental concerns might affect a house. Much of the heavy industry has now ceased, or has relocated, and its presence may not be readily apparent. However some types of pollution can remain in the ground long afterwards, and can have a detrimental effect on new homes built on the land. Your Merseyside Conveyancing Solicitor will therefore arrange for an environmental search to be carried out, which will report on any such previous uses, as well as any industry and potential sources of pollution still being carried on in the vicinity
Fast Sale Tip
In the majority of cases, the environmental search survey company is able to issue a certificate confirming that there are no environmental issues affecting the house, which is a great reassurance to homebuyers, and may even result in a faster sale.
When the Conveyancing Solicitors acting for the vendor of the Hayes Drive house sent details of their client’s title, it was discovered that the title was not registered at the land registry. Although most residential property titles are now registered, where a house has not changed hands for many years the sellers’ title may still be unregistered. On completion of the purchase, it is necessary for the buyers’ Conveyancing Solicitor to apply for first registration, so the Solicitor will have to be certain that the land registry will accept the title.
When title is unregistered, the seller will have to show a chain of ownership for more than 15 years. This is done by providing copies of the various Conveyances or other title deeds. In this case the copy documents included a copy of a 1968 Conveyance to the vendor’s parents, with a copy of a mortgage granted at the same time, and then copies of their death certificates and a Grant of Probate. This showed that the seller was selling at the executor of his late mother.
Although these documents showed that the vendor had good title and was legally entitled to sell, the 1968 Conveyance stated that the extent of the plot was shown on a plan in a 1961 Conveyance. That Conveyance also contained details of the legal rights affecting the property and set out some restrictions or covenants. The documents supplied by the Solicitors did not include a copy of the 1961 Conveyance, so Simon asked for a copy. Fortunately the Solicitors had the original of this and sent a copy.
When the purchase was completed, Simon made sure that the seller’s Conveyancing Solicitors sent all the original deeds which they were holding, and that the 1968 mortgage deed had a receipt endorsed on it confirming that the mortgage had been paid off. He had carried out the necessary searches to confirm that there were no charges registered against the sellers, such as second mortgages or court orders. He was thus able to apply for first registration of the title and the registry completed the registration within a few days without needing to raise any further enquiries.
Once the registration was completed, Simon sent his clients a copy of the new registered title and plan, together with the old title deeds as these were no longer required.
Flats and similar homes, where there is more than one residential unit in a building, will be owned with long leasehold titles. Traditionally such leases were granted for periods of 99 years, but longer terms such as 125 years or even 999 years are now common.
Leases are usually required for such properties because there will need to be legal provisions for such matters as building maintenance and insurance. Leaseholders will often be required to pay some form of service charge, which in the case of flats in large blocks can be hundreds or even thousands of pounds a year.
The freehold of flats in larger blocks is usually owned by an institutional landlord, and the building management will be carried out by a management company on their behalf. The freehold of some blocks, usually smaller buildings, may be owned by the individual flat-owners or by a company in which the flat-owners are the only shareholders.
In a few cases the tenants will have taken over the management of the building themselves. This is sometimes done under legislation giving tenants the Right to Manage. A special RTM company is set up, of which all the flat-owners will be members.
Conveyancing Solicitors acting for flat-buyers in Merseyside will check the management arrangements, and will ask the sellers' Solicitors to obtain information about the amount of service charges, details of any proposed major works, and other things which might affect the owner. They will in particular check that the lease and management arrangements comply with the requirements of the council of mortgage lenders, as otherwise the flat may not be mortgageable.
The city of Liverpool has 35 conservation areas covering some 9% of the city area, such as around Bold Street. The other local authorities within Merseyside also contain several such areas. Many residential properties are comprised within these, so buyers' Conveyancing Solicitors must check if a property is located in such an area, and will advise clients accordingly.
Many works which would not otherwise require planning consent will require consent for properties in conservation areas. Conveyancing Solicitors will therefore check whether the seller has carried out any alterations and works to the house which might have required consent.
Where proper consent has not been obtained, the financial consequences can be severe, as councils have the power to require owners to reinstate the property. For example, the installation of replacement windows will require consent, and it may be necessary to have expensive custom-made period style frames installed.
Wherever your home is located in Merseyside, it makes sense to trust your Conveyancing work to a Qualified Solicitor, who can give you a prompt and efficient service with less risk than you would be exposed to by doing it yourself. This will give you the peace of mind that you will receive the best service from someone who will at all times act in your best interests.
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