Lease Report by Solicitor

nekr0mantik

Hello

So I am wondering if this is normal or not.

My solicitor sent me a quote of price for the service to purchase a leasehold property and then half way through added £450+VAT to do a "lease report for escalating ground rent". Now they knew this was a leasehold and there will be a ground rent clause like majority of leasehold properties so I would have expected them to add that to the original price as a potential extra I would need to pay if they needed to do a review. Instead they did not mention it and I was not able to say I dont want it as they said I would then not be able to purchase via them. Makes me think I will see a lot more added fees onto the £900 legal fees charge they quoted which seemed too good to be true anyway.

Tiglet2

Are you using a conveyancing factory?  They often quote a 'cheap' price for a basic leasehold purchase, but have lots of add-ons for 'Additional Work'.  A basic quote will mean a straight-forward leasehold purchase where the ground rent and service charges are the normal acceptable ones that lenders and future purchasers have no issue with and the solicitor doesn't have to do any extra work on.

What exactly are the terms for the escalating ground rent? Are the terms acceptable to you and your lender and should not cause future saleability to be affected?  If so, why do you need a report?

nekr0mantik

Nah its a large law firm.

Ground rent is 15 year increase by RPI.

They said they charge to talk to lender and then charge me to tell me what lender has said. It just sounds not right.

As you said if the terms are standard and the lender is ok with it then why charge so much extra. They said due to the new ground rent laws and to ensure no one can claim any damages they now do this.

I tried to fight it and say I dont need report but at that point I would lost that amount in legal fees and would delay things by switching firms so wasnt worth it.

Tiglet2

Lenders prefer escalating ground rent to be a minimum of 20 years, so that might be the problem.

nekr0mantik

Tiglet2 said:

Lenders prefer escalating ground rent to be a minimum of 20 years, so that might be the problem.

Yeah but extra work would only be needed if the lender did have issue with it.

Tiglet2

nekr0mantik said:

Tiglet2 said:

Lenders prefer escalating ground rent to be a minimum of 20 years, so that might be the problem.

Yeah but extra work would only be needed if the lender did have issue with it.

Does your lender have an issue with it?

nekr0mantik

Tiglet2 said:

nekr0mantik said:

Tiglet2 said:

Lenders prefer escalating ground rent to be a minimum of 20 years, so that might be the problem.

Yeah but extra work would only be needed if the lender did have issue with it.

Does your lender have an issue with it?

nope they said its fine as long as its not doubling clause

Tiglet2

nekr0mantik said:

Tiglet2 said:

nekr0mantik said:

Tiglet2 said:

Lenders prefer escalating ground rent to be a minimum of 20 years, so that might be the problem.

Yeah but extra work would only be needed if the lender did have issue with it.

Does your lender have an issue with it?

nope they said its fine as long as its not doubling clause

Check your lender's requirements here https://lendershandbook.ukfinance.org.uk/lenders-handbook/englandandwales/question-list/1852/

NameUnavailable

I expect the lender has asked the solicitors for details given that RPI is increasing dramatically now.

nekr0mantik

Nope. Lender had zero issues it's just solicitor covering own back and charging me extra. Lender didn't request anything extra.