Owning your own home

I've done a lot of searching but can't find a recent post. Is there a current forum approved mortgage advisor?

@Señor_Bear - cheers! That's exactly what I wanted to know.

Have you fixed the boiler so it won't leak again once you've repaired the damage?

Yes. Well I hope so. It was dealt with under our "home emergency". Best £35 I've ever spent. Ended up having a few other things wrong including a CO leak.

Not sure about forum approved, but we do all our mortgage stuff through Anthony Emerson at trinity financial and would recommend very highly

Anyone recommend a removal company for moving from Dalston to Clapton? Potentially just a man with a van may do it.

Conveyancing fees... Recommended firm are quoting £1620 + Extra £250 because Leasehold. (inc VAT). Vacant freeholder. Not London. Includes all the other searches and fees. Does this sound in the right ball park?

First time buyers and the only reference I have is parents paying around £1550 for their freehold place a couple of years back. Our broker came highly recommended and has been great. The firm above is his recommendation.

I paid £1050 recently when buying my house.

Thanks, eagerly awaiting our cross quotes now.

Vacant freeholder

I know they can be a bit odd but do you mean absent?

That's the one! Just rereading my notes. Over 600 years left on lease, £2 ground rent which has apparently never been collected.

Edit: Don't want to be liable for payments back to 1835.

There's a six year limitation period for recovering arrears of rent. Your maximum liability would be £12.

our cost were £1026 last year as FTBs and we went with a local firm in the end rather than online based

That's a relief. £12 is within budget.

@musa Thanks. I think we're being taken for a ride. Already been some back-and-forth now that's putting us off.

possibly - but we did get quotes that high too

whereabouts are you?

I'm paying £2k for both sale and purchase.

In the big scheme of things though you're (probably) spending hundreds of thousands on this purchase. Skimping a few hundred quid on conveyancing fees isn't really worth it if they're good.

Obviously if they don't appear great then that's a different matter but buying a house is already stressful enough without a shit solicitor that you can't get hold of, etc.

My mate used a pretty incompetent conveyancing firm and it definitely added to the work and stress for him.

EWS1 update:
Lender rejected the letter and we're now stuck with an unmortgageable flat

Fuuuuuuuuuck

Man, that’s fucked up.

It would be a shame if that cladding fell off in the middle of the night

Shit.

Aw shit.

is it worth you/buyer explaining the situation to a broker and letting them do the leg work of finding someone who will lend on it? even if it doesn't work for this buyer it could give you some foresight for next buyer?

on what grounds? the stuff about if a building is above 18m or something is that legislation or just guidance?

Bollocks :( Guess they'll try another lender?

I think I'm in the same situation. Except we just need to remortgage not sell.

What the fuck.

Surely this will be a problem for thousands of people and will need rectifying ASAP to avoid everyone ending up in the same position.

I hope you get this sorted soon.