News Archives - Page 17 of 18

Jun 6

Can my neighbour force me to repaint the exterior of my house?

My neighbour has recently had the outside of his house painted and mine looks very tatty next to it. He now says the state of my property is affecting the value of his and is insisting that I get mine repainted. He is threatening me with his solicitors if I do not do what he asks. Can he do this?

No he cannot. If your property is very dilapidated due to your lack of maintenance then the only remedies available to your neighbour would be a local authority Enforcement Notice declaring the property to be in a dangerous state which would require you to carry out urgent repair works for Health & Safety reasons, or action by an estate owner having the benefit of a restrictive covenant for repair.

It is possible you live on a development where all properties are the subject of various covenants which will include obligations to keep the property in a good state of repair, decorate the exterior of the property, say every five years, and not be a nuisance to your neighbours.

Your neighbour, could at his cost, request that action is taken against you for breach of your covenant to repair, but these remedies would only be available in extreme circumstances and, accordingly, your neighbour’s ability to force you to redecorate your property is very limited.

• Emyr Pierce is Managing Partner of Emyr Pierce Solicitors in Rhiwbina, Cardiff, Western Mail Conveyancer of the Year, specialising in Domestic and Commercial Property. Contact www.emyrpierce.co.uk or email law@emyrpierce.co.uk

Jun 6

How long do local authority searches take?

Having put an offer on an old house we want to buy, my solicitor tells me he has to carry out searches of the local authority. How long is this likely to take as we are desperate to move in?

With the advent of Home Information Packs, it is the seller who now provides the basic local and drainage searches within the HIP.

However a property (particularly an old property) could have been on the market for a considerable period and accordingly the searches within the HIP may well be out of date. The buyer’s solicitor will not be aware of the date of the searches until he receives the HIP. If the buyers are purchasing with a mortgage, then the searches must be less than six months old. If the searches within the HIP are over six months old, the buyer’s solicitor will always advise that the searches should be updated.

Jun 6

Why 15% deposits are highly irregular

I am almost at the stage of exchanging contracts on a property and have been asked to provide a deposit of 15% of the agreed purchase price. Is this normal and if I question it could I be in danger of losing the house?

It is a standard contractual obligation that the buyer is required to provide a deposit of 10% of the purchase price on exchanging contracts – but not 15 per cent. In fact, it is common these days for sellers to accept a reduced deposit as contractual terms will cover the vendor in the event of the matter proving abortive and the seller having to request the balance of the 10% from the buyer.

It is also commonplace that whatever deposit is available at the bottom of the chain, this will be passed up the chain or, indeed even more common these days, the deposit is held by the solicitor at the bottom of the chain to the order of those higher up the chain.

It is a specific condition of the contract that, in the event of the buyer failing to complete, the seller is entitled to forfeit the deposit. If however a deposit of less than 10% is handed over on exchange, this would potentially prejudice a seller and, accordingly, all sale contracts contain a Special Condition whereby the seller can compel the buyer to pay the balance of the 10% deposit in the event of the buyers’ failure to complete.

Only in extreme circumstances, often where a protracted completion date of, say, 6-12 months is agreed, could the buyer be asked to provide a larger deposit. In the absence of such circumstances, any request for a deposit in excess of 10% should be refused.

Jun 6

When, with Enduring Power of Attroney, can I dispose of property?

My mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and is currently in a nursing home. I have an Enduring Power of Attorney to deal with her affairs, does this mean that I can now sell her property and dispose of her belongings?

Any power granted to you under the Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) will technically cease once your mother is no longer mentally capable of managing her own affairs.

You are obliged to register your Enduring Power of Attorney with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) once you believe your mother no longer has the ability to mentally manage her own affairs.

Once the EPA has been registered with the OPG you can then sell her property – provided there is no prospect of your mother returning home. It would be wise to ensure any brothers or sisters or other close members of the family agree with the proposed sale and, in many cases, it may be necessary to sell the property in order to fund long-term care.

If no Enduring or Lasting Power of Attorney existed, then once your mother was diagnosed as being mentally incapable of managing her own affairs, you would be need to apply to the OPG to appoint a “Deputy” to deal with your mother’s assets.

• Pierce is Managing Partner of Emyr Pierce Solicitors in Rhiwbina, Cardiff, Western Mail Conveyancer of the Year, specialising in Domestic and Commercial Property. Contact www.emyrpierce.co.uk or email law@emyrpierce.co.uk

May 30

I’m buying a house – but when will it be mine?

I have had an offer accepted on a house that I really want to buy. However, does this mean that it is mine subject to contracts being exchanged, or could another buyer still beat me to it?

Either party can withdraw from a transaction up to the point of formal exchange of contracts. That exchange usually takes place once the buyer is satisfied with the results of searches and survey and that mortgage arrangements are in place.

Proceeding without any of these issues being satisfied represents a substantial risk. The downside to this is that either party can withdraw from the date an offer is made right up to contracts exchange. A buyer is able to withdraw should the result of his enquiries or survey be unsatisfactory or he fails to secure satisfactory mortgage finance, whereas the seller can also withdraw if he receives a higher offer.

This will very often be a question of morals and integrity on the part of the seller. However, in the event of a sale by a Personal Representative, Mortgagee in Possession or Trustees acting on behalf of third party beneficiaries, the seller has an obligation to secure the best possible price and a Buyer’s offer will always be at risk until contracts are exchanged.

May 23

Can you sell the content of a property after repossession?

My brother-in-law has had his house repossessed. He bought a complete new kitchen less than a year ago which I offered to buy off him, but is he allowed to sell it and let me remove it?

Once a property has been repossessed this will have taken place as a result of a Court Order giving the lender the right to take possession.

If the kitchen had been fully paid for then this – along with the property – falls into the ownership of the lender and can be sold with the property. If the kitchen remained on a Hire Purchase, or other Finance Agreement, then title to the kitchen would remain with the Hire Purchase, or Finance Company, and could be removed by them.

That is why someone buying a repossessed home is not guaranteed ‘good title’ to any items included in the property.

It is, therefore, unlikely you will able to remove the kitchen as this will also not only cause damage to the property, but adversely affect its saleability.

May 23

Getting out of a joint mortgage

My daughter is in a joint mortgage with a friend she has now fallen out with and wants to sever the connection. The mortgage contract still has another two years to run. Is there any way she can end it early without incurring any expensive penalties?

The likelihood is that the two of them will have bought the house with a Fixed Rate or Tracker mortgage – with penalties for early repayment. Your daughter can only sever the connection by either transferring her interest to the former friend, or a third party who may want to become a joint owner. Or, the former friend could transfer her interest to your daughter, known as a Transfer of Equity.

No alteration to the current arrangements will be possible until the mortgage company has agreed to any transfer. If only one owner is to remain, the lender will need to be satisfied with the earning potential of that sole remaining owner – before releasing the outgoing party. If the house has to be sold then an early repayment penalty may be incurred. Most lenders will not charge an early repayment penalty on a Transfer of Equity, but check first as any penalties can be substantial.

May 23

I can’t find the deeds to my house

I bought a house about 10 years ago and I have been having a bit of a clear out of all my documents and I cannot find any deeds to the house. In fact I don’t ever remember seeing any?

The Title to your property is likely to be registered at HM Land Registry. The Registry no longer issue formal documents as the information is kept on an electronic register with each property having its own Title Number.

Following completion, therefore, owners are now issued with a Title Information Document – a snap shot of the electronic register at the precise time on which the electronic copy is printed. This is effectively the main Title Document. If there are mortgages registered against the Title, or documents affecting the Title which contain covenants, or restrictions, then copies of these documents are often retained at the Land Registry and their existence mentioned on the register.

If you have a mortgage on the property the lenders only now retain the Title Information Document and the original Mortgage Document leaving you to retain possession of all pre-registration Deeds and Documents and other guarantees and documents relating to the property. Your solicitor will have returned the Title Information Document and Mortgage Deed to the lender and may well have retained the balance of these other documents, either on file, or in safe custody, at their offices.

Alternatively, the solicitors will have sent the balance of these documents to you to keep, and it is imperative you know where these are as the guarantees, planning permissions etc will need to be handed over in the event of resale.

May 16

My neighbour wants to repair our boundary fence

I have received a note from my next door neighbour drawing attention to the fact that the boundary fence between our properties is dilapidated and in need of serious repair. He has offered to carry out the work on my behalf provided I pay. What should I do?

You must first establish who owns the boundary fence. If it is your neighbour’s fence then clearly you should not have to pay. If the fence is yours then the liability for maintaining the fence is yours. If your neighbour has offered to do the work and the cost he’s quoting sounds reasonable, then this would appear a genuine gesture on his part – provided he replaces the fence on a ”like for like” basis. If he’s planning something different then you must be happy with what is being proposed and what it will ultimately look like. Remember, certain types of fencing can look attractive from one side only and in this instance as the fence is yours then presumably the attractive side should be on your side of the fence! If the boundary is a party wall or fence, then the responsibility for its maintenance and cost of its repair should be shared equally between you.

• Emyr Pierce is Managing Partner of Emyr Pierce Solicitors in Rhiwbina, Cardiff, Western Mail Conveyancer of the Year, specialising in Domestic and Commercial Property.

May 16

Transferring your house to your children

How do you deal with transferring your house to your children while continuing to live in it, in order to avoid having to sell the property should you have to go into care at a later date?

If you are thinking of doing this then you should immediately consult a solicitor as this is a fairly complex issue. Provided property is transferred a substantial time before entering into care – and 12 months would appear to be a minimum period – the asset will no longer be deemed to be yours when assessing your contributions towards accommodation charges in any Local Authority Home. There are, however, Inheritance Tax implications of gifting the property to your children while continuing to live there. If your Estate is unlikely to be a taxable one, the fact that the Inland Revenue will regard your continued occupation of the property rent free as a Reservation of Benefit – and regard the property as yours at the date of your death for Inheritance Tax purposes – will not have any adverse consequences as there will be no Inheritance Tax payable if the value of your Estate is below the relevant threshold.

You should also ensure that your right to continue to occupy is protected once you have given your property away. This should be done by taking a Lease for Life back from your children which will protect you should they want – or be forced – to sell.

• Emyr Pierce is Managing Partner of Emyr Pierce Solicitors in Rhiwbina, Cardiff, Western Mail Conveyancer of the Year, specialising in Domestic and Commercial Property.