by Tony Lilleystone, Legal Manager
Get a quote for Conveyancing in Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire county covers a large area of the East Midlands. Principal towns within the county include Nottingham itself, Newark on Trent, Mansfield, and Worksop. Our Conveyancing Solicitors manage conveyancing on residential transactions in all these towns, as well as the numerous other smaller towns and villages throughout Nottinghamshire.
Nottinghamshire county council is responsible for major services throughout the county, except for the area administered by Nottingham city council, which is a unitary authority. The county council offices are now located in West Bridgford, which although appearing to be a suburb of Nottingham, is not in the city council's area. There are seven district councils within Nottinghamshire, Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood, and Rushcliffe. Each of these provides local council services within its area, and these are the councils which property owners and Conveyancers usually deal with.
Nottinghamshire county includes a wide variety of residential areas, from city locations through suburban housing to country towns and rural villages. Much of the county is rural in nature, and Sherwood Forest covers a large area in the north.
Prepare for your property transaction by reviewing some of the legal areas covered by a Conveyancing Solicitor as part of local Conveyancing in Nottinghamshire work:
The Nottinghamshire Conveyancing Solicitor will carry out a search of the correct local council which will show what planning consents exist for the property. They also show if the council has taken any enforcement action for a breach of planning regulations. It is especially important to obtain details of planning consents for newly built homes, but for any house built since 1947 evidence that consent was obtained when it was built is still required. Any consents for extensions or alterations to the Nottinghamshire property will also be recorded, and your solicitor will check whether any works have been carried out for which consent has not been obtained.
The local search will also show if the adjacent road is an adopted road, and whether there are any plans for public works such as new roads or road improvement schemes which might affect the house. Many buyers assume that these local authority searches also show planning applications and consents for adjacent properties, but this is not the case. However Conveyancing Solicitors can (at an additional fee) carry out a further search which will show any such applications and consents within the immediate vicinity. This can be important if a buyer suspects that some major redevelopment is planned such as a new supermarket.
There are many conservation areas throughout Nottinghamshire. Any property in one of these areas is covered by the relevant statutory provisions, so it is important that your Solicitor advises you if the house is specifically located within such an area. Your Conveyancing Solicitor will also check whether the seller or any previous owner has carried out alterations or other works to the property and if so obtained appropriate consents. Many works which would not normally require specific consent, such as replacing window frames, require council consent if the property is in a conservation area and the financial penalties can be severe if necessary consents have not been obtained.
Nottinghamshire is found on a coalfield, where, in the past, extensive mine-workings took place. Although much has now ceased, where properties are in the vicinity of old pits there is a potential for subsidence. Local Conveyancing Solicitors in Nottinghamshire will make the necessary searches to ascertain whether a house has suffered in the past, or is in an area where there is a possibility of future subsidence.
Nottinghamshire Conveyancing in Focus: Subsidence
When Fridaysmove Conveyancing Solicitor Laura Gill represented the buyer of a semi-detached house in Huntley Close, Clifton, Nottingham NG8, she discovered that the mines and minerals had previously been excluded from the property and there was mention of an old mining lease. It was also subject to some restrictions contained in the registered title. Details of the agreed terms were received from the sellers' agents, Haart of 14-15 Tudor Square, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 6BT, confirming that the Conveyancing Solicitors acting for the vendors would be Massers also of West Bridgford.
The Solicitors sent Laura the usual contract package, including a copy of the land registry title and plan for the property. On looking through the title entries, Laura noted that the title register mentioned that mines and minerals were reserved and an old mining lease affected the area. Prior to nationalisation of coal in 1947, coal reserves were privately owned. When land was sold in an area where coal was known to exist, owners often reserved mines and minerals below the land, with the right to work them usually by underground working. They would then lease the mineral rights to a colliery company. The old leases ceased to be of relevance after nationalisation, and even following the privatisation of the coal industry all coal reserves are still nationally owned. Since it was known that mining had previously been carried on in Nottinghamshire, a search was carried out to confirm that the house was not known to have suffered from subsidence, and that it was not in an area affected by any current workings.
The title register also stated that the house was stated to be subject to certain restrictive covenants, some of which were set out verbatim in the register itself, while others were expressed to be contained in a 1992 conveyance. The register stated that a copy of this conveyance was held by the land registry, but the sellers' Conveyancing Solicitors had not provided a copy. Laura therefore had to ask them to supply this.
The following covenant was set out in the register:
"The Purchasers to the intent and so that the covenant thereinafter contained should at all times thereafter be binding on the said lands thereby conveyed and ensure for the benefit and protection of the lands next thereinafter mentioned and of every part of such land did thereby for themselves and their successors in title covenant with the Vendor and his successors in title the owner or owners for the time being of so much of the Clifton Estate comprised in the Settlement therein before referred to as was not thereby conveyed and might from time to time remain unsold that the Purchasers and their successors in title would at all times thereafter in relation to the said lands thereby conveyed observe and perform the following stipulations namely:-
The Purchasers would not carry on or permit or suffer to be carried on upon the land thereby conveyed or on any part or parts thereof or in any building then or to be erected thereon or on any part or parts thereof any offensive noisy or dangerous trade or business or permit or suffer thereon or therein anything which may become a nuisance or annoyance (whether indictable or not) to the owners or occupiers from time to time of any adjoining or neighbouring or adjacent property of the Vendor or his successors in title and persons entitled under him or them."
These are typical of covenants contained in older deeds and are not usually of any great concern to buyers, but Laura nevertheless asked the sellers for confirmation that they were not in breach of the covenant.
It appeared that the house had originally been constructed by the local council, and it was therefore also necessary to check that the 1992 Conveyance by the council was made under the provisions of the Housing Act 1985. Where councils sell property under the statutory discount scheme to sitting tenants, various provisions will automatically be incorporated in any transfer made pursuant to the 1985 Act. These include rights for owners to use access roads and footpaths crossing the remainder of the council estate, and shared drains and sewers. Many council conveyances do not include express provisions for the use of such common facilities, so Conveyancing Solicitors acting for buyers need to check that a property has been transferred under the provisions of the Act.
In many older Nottinghamshire towns industrial activities of various types were often carried on close to residential properties. This was often the cause of pollution, both in the air and in the ground. Although some of the worst causes of pollution have now ceased, many former industrial areas have been redeveloped for housing. Ground pollution may remain in the soil for years, so houses built on land formerly used for industrial purposes may encounter problems if appropriate remedial works have not been carried out, and Property Lawyers in Nottinghamshire can make necessary searches and will advise if there are any problems. An environmental search will also reveal other potential sources of pollution, both historical and current, in the vicinity of a property.
There is a wide variety of flats in the area, and for anyone buying leasehold flat your solicitor will ensure that the form of lease is satisfactory and acceptable to Nottinghamshire mortgage lenders, and make checks and enquiries about the management of the building in which the flat is located.
Many homes within the county were former council properties which have been sold to sitting tenants. When councils sell under the statutory discount scheme, various provisions will automatically be incorporated in any transfer made pursuant to the 1985 Act. These include rights for owners to use access roads and footpaths crossing the remainder of the council estate, and shared drains and sewers. Many council conveyances do not include express provisions for the use of such common facilities, so Conveyancing Solicitors acting for buyers need to check that a property has been transferred under the provisions of the Act.
Where a house is being acquired from the original tenant-purchaser, there will be a note in the register referring to the discount. If the property is sold within a certain period from the sale by the council, formerly three years but now five, the buyer may be required to repay a proportion of the discount. Therefore, anyone subsequently buying the property within the original discount period will need to ensure that the appropriate amount is repaid, so that the note in the title register will be removed.
Conveyancers will require Solicitors acting for vendors to take the necessary action to ensure that this is done.
Nottinghamshire Conveyancing in Focus: Ex-Council Property
Fridaysmove Conveyancing Solicitor Laura Gill also carried out the Conveyancing work for the buyer of a home in Eltham Drive, Bilborough, Nottingham. The property was being sold by a local housing association, and their agents, Thomas James of 40a Upper Parliament Street, Nottingham NG1 2AG had negotiated the sale.
Contract and title documents were sent by the Association's Conveyancing Solicitors, Messrs.Freeth Cartwright of Cumberland Court, 80 Mount Street, Nottingham NG1 6HH. The copy of the title registered at the land registry confirmed that the housing association was the registered owner, and also contained details of some covenants affecting the property.
The register included a note that the transfer dated 2 February 1987 referred to in the charges register of the title was made pursuant to Part V of the 1985 Housing Act and the land has the benefit of (but where so stated in the Transfer only so far as the Council could lawfully grant the same) and is subject to such easements as are granted and reserved in the transfer and the easements and rights specified in Paragraph 2 of Schedule 6 of the said Act. Although no copy of the 1987 transfer was supplied, the note was clear evidence that it incorporated the relevant rights specified in the 1985 Housing Act, so that no further enquiries were necessary.
As is usual housing association-owned houses, there were restrictions registered against the title, preventing any transfer of the property except with the consent of the housing corporation. A charge was also registered in favour of the Housing Finance Corporation, which had presumably lent money to the association in connection with their original purchase. Laura therefore had to make sure that the sale was properly authorised and that the charge would be removed when the sale was completed, so she asked the seller's Conveyancing Solicitors to give the necessary undertakings.
A Conveyance of the land in this title dated 6 March 1936 contained the following covenant set out in the title register:
"That the covenantors nor any future Director or Directors of the Company shall not sell any land which may now or hereafter belong to the Covenantors or the said Director or Directors of the Company or Companies within a radius of one mile of the said land described or permit any building which may be erected thereon to be used for the purposes of high class cinematograph exhibitions and other public entertainments car park or any other trade which may be carried on by the Covenantee and shall have been approved by the Covenantors upon the said land shown on the plan hereto annexed and thereon edged pink (which purposes are hereinafter referred to as "the said purposes"). NOTE:-The land in this title falls within the radius of one mile referred”
This covenant was clearly of little importance as the property being acquired was a private house, and there was no intention to use it as a cinema or other use in breach of the covenant! Covenants of this nature are not unusual in old transfer deeds, and where as in this case they are clearly now irrelevant they can safely be disregarded.
The river Trent flows through the county, among several other rivers and waterways, and your Nottinghamshire Conveyancing Solicitor will check that the property is not in area where flooding may have taken place in the past, or where there is a high risk of flooding in the future. Properties where there is a high risk of flooding can be difficult or impossible to insure, which can have a substantial effect on their value and saleability.
This is a high risk issue, so don't take your decision lightly.
Instructing a Conveyancing Solicitor can be a daunting prospect when faced with all these considerations. Fees and benefits vary widely from firm to firm, but a Fridaysmove Conveyancing Solicitor guarantees a No Move, No Fee quote which will remain constant. We do not believe in hidden extras and are proud of the Fast, Proactive Conveyancing service we offer, providing you with a first-class property Conveyancing service for all sales and purchases throughout the county of Nottinghamshire.
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