Wrigley Claydon Solicitors

Category: Property & Conveyancing

  • Wrigley Claydon in the Oldham Evening Chronicle

    Wrigley Claydon in the Oldham Evening Chronicle

    Last week, Wrigley Claydon were proud to be featured in the Oldham Evening Chronicle. The piece discusses our success as Oldham’s oldest law firm and a company who continues to move with the times.

    The article describes the improvement in the property market, and the measures we are taking to ensure we are prepared for the inevitable surge in people wanting to move house.  This includes welcoming a new member to the Wrigley Claydon team – conveyancer, Uzma Begum.

    At Wrigley Claydon, we’re thrilled with the piece and believe it fully represents what we stand for as a firm. Partner, John Porter said, “As the recovery takes hold we are committed to growing the firm whilst continuing to deliver an excellent legal service.”

    To read the full article, click the image opposite or click here to learn more about Wrigley Claydon’s Oldham property services. You can send us an enquiry through our contact form, or call us with any questions about the services we provide on 0161 624 6811.
  • How our property team can help you sell

    How our property team can help you sell

    Undoubtedly the property market is improving – it is arguably at it’s highest peak in many years. However, one of the most prominent contributing factors to this success is the Help to Buy Scheme. The scheme targets young buyers who are trying to get their foot on the property ladder, and usually only applies to new build houses. This means that while the market continues to improve, and house prices rise, it is still proving difficult for those wanting to move, to sell their home. Most first time buyers are choosing new builds to take advantage of the scheme, meaning that existing home owners sometimes need help to sell.

    Taking on the task of selling your property alone can be daunting. Organising viewings and putting out advertisements can get pushed to the bottom of the to-do list during the hustle and bustle of every day life, and much of the jargon and necessary paperwork can seem overwhelming and confusing. This is why many home owners are choosing to invest in a team of estate agents, solicitors and conveyancers to assist in selling their property.

    But what exactly do they do? Firstly, estate agents. They will take responsibility for sourcing potential buyers – taking care of a lot of the organisational issues which arise when trying to sell your home yourself. Estate agents have years of experience selling properties, so know the best way to market your home and for what price. They can also offer you advice and be there to answer any questions you have regarding the sale.

    The conveyancer or solicitor will then take care of all of the complicated yet necessary paperwork such as drawing up contracts, laying out the necessary forms for you to complete and negotiating fees, speeding the process along. They will assist with the transfer of money, as well as ensuring that all documents are completed as accurately as possible, preventing any legal issues further down the road.

    One of the biggest factors in slowing down the process of selling a property is communication. There are so many individuals and companies involved – both on the side of the buyer and the seller – that transactions between parties can often hold up proceedings. Which is why using the services of a property team can help. At Wrigley Claydon, we have a property team made up of estate agents and law professionals, so you can find all the help you need in one place. We can offer solid, reliable advice that you can depend on with decades of combined property experience in all fields.

    We offer an extremely competitive fee package which includes conveyancing and all other legal work required, relating to your sale, for a streamlined and stress free experience. If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call our Oldham Office on 0161 785 3571 or our Todmorden Office on 01706 815 712. Alternatively, you can send us a enquiry through our contact page.

  • Flood risks to impact heavily on potential home owners

    Statistics show that 1 in 6 properties in England and Wales are at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea causing chaos and wide spread destruction. In addition to the emotional and physical damage caused by flooding, if a property is at risk then it may also impact on a person’s ability to be granted a mortgage, obtain suitable buildings insurance cover or even sell the home in the future.

    If you are thinking of buying a property then the main ways of learning more about the risk of flooding are through conducting searches. Instructing a conveyancing solicitor, checking the Environmental Agency website, making enquiries of the seller or instructing a Surveyor to carry out a physical inspection of the property in question will help identify any potential flood risk. Unfortunately, it may not be sufficient to rely on just one type of investigation alone.

    It is imperative that potential flood risk is considered particularly where mortgage finance is required, as lenders are increasingly likely to investigate flood risk and in turn, impose additional conditions on their mortgage product. One of these conditions will most certainly be that flood risk is a specified cover in any buildings insurance policy.

    Indeed, when a property is seen to be at risk of flooding, insurance companies may refuse to insure altogether or impose much higher premiums (especially if a property has previously made a flood claim) and/or excesses.

    Potential purchasers of ‘flood risk properties’ should therefore investigate the buildings insurance position from the outset of the conveyancing transaction (and certainly before entering into any contractual commitments) so that they are aware of the likely excessive cost that could be involved.

    If you have any questions or would like to talk with a conveyancing solicitor  please call Gary Burns on 0161 624 6811, gb@wrigleyclaydon.com at the Oldham office or Emma Piszkalo on 01706 815712, ep@wrigleyclaydontod.com at the Todmorden office.

  • 10 Top Tips on Commercial Leases

    Commercial law can be complicated, here are our top tips on making sure things go smoothly.

    1. Location

    Before you enter into negotiations consider whether the property is right for you. Speak to a surveyor to make sure you are not paying over the odds for a property in that location. Also make sure that the Landlord and the local planning regulations permit you to use the property for your desired use.

    2. Term

    When negotiating on the length of a lease term you should assume that you will be liable for the entire term. It sounds obvious, but do you really want to be committed to pay rent in the property for the next 10 years, whether or not your business is doing well? Do you have protection under the Landlord & Tenant Act?

    3. Costs

    Landlords will sometimes request that you pay their legal fees for entering into a lease with you. This is not something you have to agree to and is a matter for negotiation.

    4. Guarantors

    A Landlord may request a guarantor to the lease, especially where the tenant is a limited company. A guarantor will guarantee a tenant’s performance of a lease and is liable on the same basis as the tenant.

    5. Rent Deposit

    Landlords may request a deposit upon commencement of a lease to cover the possibility of a tenant default. Consider whether you wish to negotiate that such a deposit is released before the end of the lease e.g. after 1 year or when you can provide accounts showing annual turnover three times greater than the rent.

    6. Break Clause

    Do you want the ability to bring your lease to an end early? By including a break clause you can have the right to do so at specified times during the term of your lease.

    7. Alienation

    Are there going to be any restrictions to your ability to ‘transfer’ the lease? Leases often include restrictions that do so, which could make it very difficult to dispose of your lease should you wish to do so before the term has ended.

    8. Security of tenure

    Leases for business purposes generally attract ‘security of Tenure’ under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. ‘Security of Tenure’ means that you have an automatic right to renew your lease at the end of its current term (subject to some exceptions) should you wish to. Check whether your lease going to be excluded from these provisions or not.

    9. Repair

    This is the most important element of negotiations to get right. Decide whether you are happy to have an open ended obligation to put a property back into repair (whether or not it was in repair when the leases starts) or whether you would like the obligation limited by reference to a schedule of condition

    10. Finally

    Take advice from a Solicitor.

    If you would like further information or to talk to us about commercial law please call us on 0161 785 3521.

  • The Green Deal for residential properties

    The Green DealThe Government has recently introduced an initiative called The Green Deal, which is designed to reduce carbon emissions and save energy in the home.  The premise is that, if residential properties can be better insulated and have other energy efficiency improvements made to them, then energy demands will be reduced.

    The Green Deal allows property owners to pay for the energy improvement measures with no up-front payment.

    The idea is that the installers will install the appropriate energy enhancing measures (e.g. cavity wall insulation, solar panels, boilers etc.) at their cost.  The householder will then repay the cost (together with interest fixed for the period) over many years, using the savings made through their reduced energy bills.  The Green Deal repayments will be incorporated within the utility bills, which should be below the actual cost of the energy bills prior to the works being carried out.

    The Government’s policy is to ensure that consumers are protected at all stages.

    The works must be completed by registered installers who will be required to obtain the necessary planning and building regulations consents for the works being done.  If the owners of a Green Deal property plan to sell or rent their property then there is a duty to disclose the existence of the Green Deal and its financial implications.  The basic intention is that this will be achieved by disclosing the Green Deal in the Energy Performance Certificate.  If a Green Deal is not disclosed, then a new owner or tenant can challenge the obligation to repay, which may then leave the debt with the seller or the landlord.

    If you have any questions or would like to discuss The Green Deal further with a conveyancing solicitor please call Gary Burns on 0161 624 6811, gb@wrigleyclaydon.com at the Oldham office or Emma Piszkalo on 01706 815712, ep@wrigleyclaydontod.com at the Todmorden office.

  • Finding the right Conveyancing Solicitor for you

    You may think that there is little difference between one Conveyancing Solicitor and another. The cost of conveyancing and the quality of service can, however, vary greatly.

    You may have also considered to carry out conveyancing process yourself, this is a high-risk strategy and not some thing we would recommend. Do you have the skills, knowledge and experience? It’s likely the answer is no.

    So what does a Conveyancing Solicitor actually do?

    Your Conveyancing Solicitor should provide a service which is designed to safeguard your interests to make sure that your sale or purchase proceeds as smoothly as possible.

    There are many reasons why delays can occur in the conveyancing process such as problems on survey, the wait for local authority searches, broken chains etc. It is often the failure to communicate these which causes frustration and confusion. Your conveyancing team should keep in touch with you at every stage of the transaction.

    SELLING A PROPERTY

    • Prepare an up-to-date redemption figure for your mortgage.

    • Redeem the mortgage and send the net proceeds of the sale to you (or put them towards the purchase of your new property).

    BUYING A PROPERTY

    Buying a property is more complicated, because here we will be seeking to ensure that what you buy does not involve you in unforeseen disputes over rights of way, boundaries, fences, restrictive covenants, road charges or other legal entanglements. We will do a Local authority search to establish whether or not there are to be any public works affecting the property (such as motorway schemes) and whether there are any planning restrictions .

    The information obtained relates only to the property being purchased and not to the neighbourhood in general. After receiving the contract from the seller’s solicitor, we will check through the documentation and raise any specific queries.

    The next steps are:-

    The legal processes involved in selling a property are relatively straightforward. It is our responsibility to :-

    •Obtain the Deeds from your mortgage lender.

    •Send a draft contract to the buyer’s solicitor.

    •Agree on a completion date.

    The Process

    1. SURVEYOR’S REPORT

    Your lender will appoint a surveyor to determine the value of the property. It is not a full structural survey and it is not certain to uncover defects in the property. If the property you are buying is not newly-constructed, we would recommend that you appoint a surveyor to prepare a full report. If significant defects are found, it may be possible to negotiate a lower price with the seller.

    2. RECEIPT OF MORTGAGE OFFER

    Your bank or building society will send written confirmation of the mortgage advance.

    3. EXCHANGE OF CONTRACTS

    This takes place after the full deposit (usually 10% of the selling price) is paid. Once contracts have exchanged, the sale is legally binding. We will then settle a completion date.

    4. RECEIPT OF MORTGAGE FUNDS

    We receive the funds from your bank or building society to enable you to purchase the property.

    5. COMPLETION

    The full purchase price is settled and ownership is transferred to you

  • Leases: Break clauses according to property lawyers

    Leases: Break clauses according to property lawyers

    Beware of the Break Clause

    Our team of property lawyers say that it is not uncommon for a lease of commercial property to contain a break clause in favour of the tenant.

    It is, however essential that any tenant with the benefit of a break clause is able to exercise it, otherwise the tenant may be left paying the rent for a property that they no longer want for the full term of the lease.

    It is often the case that break clauses are conditional upon the tenant having paid the rents reserved by the lease (not just the annual rent, but insurance rent and service charge), the tenant having observed and performed the tenant’s covenants of the lease (including redecoration) and leaving behind no continuing sub tenants.

    Such conditions can be a minefield for a tenant as the Courts will strictly construe a break clause and any conditions attached to it. If the conditions of the break clause are not fulfilled, the break notice will be invalid and the lease will  continue until expiry.

    The Code for Leasing Business Premises in England and Wales 2007 (“the Code”) recommends that the only pre-conditions to tenants exercising any break clause should be that they are up to date with the main rent, give up occupation and leave behind no continuing sub-leases. Disputes about the state of the premises, or what has been left behind or removed should be settled later, like with a normal lease expiry.

    Compliance with the Code is not compulsory when a lease is being prepared. The best protection for a tenant is to ensure that the wording of the break clause complies with the Code. If it is not possible to agree such wording the tenant should take great care when exercising a break clause to ensure that any conditions within the clause are met.

    Ideally, expert legal advice from property lawyers should be sought.

    For further help from one of our property lawyers please call or email Gary Burns on 0161 624 6811 / gb@wrigleyclaydon.com.