DIY conveyancing with Right to Buy council house

Lucy_Lockett

I am just coming to the end of the DIY conveyancing of mother in law's house. Apparently it was the first time that the council had come upon this but they co-operated quite nicely.

It was a steep learning curve even though I have done DIY conveyancing before and been involved in 2 solicitor led conveyances this year.

I am happy to share my experiences but not sure how to do this in a constructive way.

It is not for the faint-hearted and takes a lot of pro-active work but it can be done.

Note it was a freehold and not a leasehold.

marksoton

Brilliant. Thanks.

G_M

Nice to have you join the club.

Well done.

It's moneysaving.
It's educational.
It provides far better first-hand knowledge of the property.
And it's immensely satisfying.

My general advice to those considering this is

* don't bother if a mortgage is involved
* stick to freehold unless you are already competant
* be prepared to hand over to a solicitor if you hit anything tricky (eg charge disposals, complex covenants, restrictions etc)
* make sure the guide/book you use is up to date

Oh! And don't charge your mates/family for doing it for them - it's illegal!

globetrotter66

We are just about to do the same. No mortgage and it's freehold. Any tips? Thanks

da_rule

The most important thing to understand is part 5 of the Housing Act 1985.

Right to Buy is a statutory form of conveyancing. A lot of the 'normal' conveyancing things don't apply. For example, most councils won't exchange contracts on a Right to Buy as there is no need.

You also have very specific deadlines to meet (16 weeks from accepting the offer) otherwise the council can just cancel the transaction and you have to start again.

Also, do you know if the property you are buying is registered or unregistered? And if it is registered it could form a part of a much larger title, which will all just be sent to you for you to read and check.

There are lots of other bits to do with mortgages, so if you're not having a mortgage now, you might not be able to get one for the next 10 years on the property. Also, you have the discount repayment period (5 years) and the first refusal period (10 years).

G_M

globetrotter66 wrote: »

We are just about to do the same. No mortgage and it's freehold. Any tips? Thanks

Is this another RTB? That complicates matters, as would an unregistered property.

So to update my earlier list:

My general advice to those considering this is

* don't bother if a mortgage is involved
* don't try if the property is unregistered
* beware if it's a RTB because of the additional requirements
* stick to freehold unless you are already competant
* be prepared to hand over to a solicitor if you hit anything tricky (eg charge disposals, complex covenants, restrictions etc)
* make sure the guide/book you use is up to date

da_rule

Just as a point of information, the last registered RTB I dealt with had a title plan that ran to 15 A3 pages. Some of these were decades old and had entire estates missing. There were different areas edged red, green, blue etc all meaning different things as well as enlarged areas.

There was also a 44 page title register which listed pages and pages of restrictions and covenants as well as all of the leases that had been granted out of the title. You would therefore need to be confident in identifying where on the plans your property is in order to check that none of the restrictions, covenants and leases relate to your property.

Bilmem

We are attempting the same under RTB.
The property is a leasehold flat.
There is no mortgage involved.
The purchase price is being gifted by the mother to the purchaser.
We are happy we the lease.
As I understand it the council has to provide us with the PSD17 or to lodge the PSD17 with the land registry. Once this is done our property will be registered at the Land registry for the first time and the land registry will provide a separate title number. This will then will be listed in the schedule of leases on the freehold title. We received the draft lease and are happy with it. We said so to the council's solicitors so I believe we should now received two copies of signed leases one of which we will retain and return one signed by the purchaser. The property is part of a block. It is a two storey house converted to two flats. The ground floor already has a separate title.
Please don't rely on any of the contents of my post here as my purpose of posting this is really to seek advice and guidance based on my posting, and I really would appreciate very much to receive any advice and guidance from fellow contributors.

Many many thanks.

Lucy_Lockett

My conveyancing was a freehold and the council passed to me all the signed paperwork for me to lodge with the Land Registry, in your case I would expect the signed PSD17 to be sent to you, email the solicitor at the council and ask. If you are doing your own conveyancing (ie not employing a professional to help you) it is you and not the seller who does the legal work involved in title registration.

jacquisu67

Hi,

I'm selling a small freehold property to a cash buyer, there are no mortgages involved either side. I would presume all I have to do is sign a contract then hand over deeds and keys once the money has cleared, I can't see why I need to pay a solicitor for this, can you tell me if there is anything else I have to do.

Many thanks

chris150157

Could you please let me know the right to buy sequence, from step 1 through to the end
Regards Chris