The Blog
08/02/10 Some tips for buying and selling properties from solicitors D'Angibau LLP of Poole, Bournemouth and Canford Cliffs
Remember the name D'Angibau Solicitors for:
Don't instruct unqualified people to do your conveyancing - use local experienced solicitors. Avoid 'bucket shop' conveyancers and cheap deals on the Internet - use a solicitor who is convenient to you and will give you a personal service.
Always arrange a survey and test all services. Tell your solicitor if you are worried about boundaries, neighbouring properties etc. so these can be checked.
Never pay money up front before contracts are exchanged - hand funds to your solicitor to pay at the right time.
Give enough time to find another property, to apply for your mortgage and to make the moving arrangements; don't set a date too early because you will be disappointed. Most important: don't pack before contracts are exchanged and you have a moving date fixed.
Information Forms on your sale: On a sale you will need to supply a lot of information to your buyers so keep all your planning permissions, guarantees, etc. handy. Some of these will be required for the Home Information Pack, which has to be prepared before your property is marketed.
Be active on your sale and purchase; keep in touch with your seller/buyer, the agent and us.
Advise your solicitor if you are going on holiday during your transaction so he knows where you are! This will give time to have documents signed in advance.
Under no circumstances pay money 'under the counter' to save Stamp Duty - it's illegal!
Set aside time to look through the information and advice on your new property provided by your solicitor at least twice so that you are confident of what you're buying.
Open your mind to all deficiencies in a property. It is too easy to have your heart set on a property and to ignore major faults.
Listen to your solicitor, especially when he is telling you things you may not want to hear. Don't forget, we have your interests at the heart of everything we do.
Inform adult occupiers of the property in good time if you need them to move out, as they may have paperwork to sign and may need to make their own arrangements for removals or accommodation.
Calculate whether you may need additional funds for moving costs. Take financial advice and depending on that advice you may need to make early arrangements with your bank to withdraw deposits or increase overdraft or credit card limits to provide a safety net.
Insure the property you are buying from the date that contracts are exchanged, not from your moving date.
Take your time over the final documents to make sure your details are correctly recorded, in case the information you gave your solicitor at the beginning has changed.
Order your removals and delivery of new furniture only once contracts are exchanged and you know your moving date. If you don't, you'll give yourself an extra job to do in re-arranging at a later date and increase the pressure on yourself.
Re-visit the property you are buying on several occasions, at different times of day and night, so that you can see as much of the neighbourhood as possible. Internet research is no substitute!
Store your property deeds with a solicitor and ensure you make a note of your file reference number for the future.
Do you want to know more? Email Sue Benoke for our free 'Guide to Buying your Own Home'
by Roger Turner
04/02/10 Who is drafting my Will?
Solicitors have been campaigning for some years to alert the public to the dangers of having Wills drafted by unqualified will writers, but it appears from a recent survey that we may not have been trying hard enough. A survey by the Law Society of more than 1,000 people revealed some astonishing results.
- 67% of those surveyed (680 people) wrongly believed that all 'will writers' are solicitors.
- 82% (830 people) wrongly assumed that training and qualifications are required before someone can write a will for someone else and call themselves a 'will writer'.
03/02/10 Sir Cliff's Conservatory
It would seem that contrary to popular belief, pop mega stars are again shown to be affected by the general law just like the rest of us, as no lesser man than Sir Cliff Richard has been ordered by the local authority to demolish a conservatory reportedly worth some £30,000 due the lack of planning permission. The case raises some interesting planning law issues, the most important in this case being that not all conservatories fall within "permitted development rights" and therefore require an application for planning permission before construction. Retrospective approval can be obtained, however home owners run the risk, as in Sir Cliff's case, that the local planning authority refuses consent.
The local planning authority cannot take enforcement action more than 4 years after the original construction unless it is carried out in breach of an existing planning condition and it could be argued that the local planning authority may never have been aware of the construction if Sir Cliff had not been required to apply for retrospective planning consent as a condition of selling the property.
At D'Angibau, our experienced residential property team have encountered numerous examples where planning permission has not been obtained for a development and are never short of helpful and practical advice for our clients. On a number of occasions we have been able to take steps to protect buyers from the risk that the new conservatory added to the property just before sale will not be demolished after completion. This is one of the reasons why our clients return to us each time they move house. For further information please contact
Fiona McArthur at our Poole Nuffield Office, Lesley Curtis at our Canford Cliffs office or Babs Rowe at our Boscombe office.
28/01/10 "Side Letters" - Beware!
Side letters are normally used in commercial agreements to alter the terms of a standard document. They are useful for large shopping centres or portfolios of commercial property so that the landlord can see at a glance whether there are any deviations from the key terms usually negotiated on their commercial properties without looking through the whole lease. They are also used to give personal benefits to a particular tenant that do not extend to a future owner.
If you are negotiating a property or business deal you need to be aware that putting key terms of the deal in side letters must be carried out properly. In recent cases reports have held that not having the new terms in the original contract could make the whole deal (and not just the changes in the defective side
letter) void.
Daniel Stanton and Roger Turner in our commercial team based at our Poole office can advise clients how to overcome these problems.
by Sue Benoke
18/01/10 New Arrivals At D'angibau
There's something in the air (or the tea) at Poole office - two babies in one month! On 6th January Natalie Clarke (residential conveyancing solicitor) gave birth to a son Oliver and just 9 days later Suzie Stanton (wife of commercial solicitor Daniel Stanton) also gave birth to a son - Matthew.
Both babies and mothers are doing well. Congratulations to both sets of parents!
by Roger Turner
11/01/10 Make a Lasting Power of Attorney - You'll regret it if you don't!
"Court of Protection dismissed as an alien and costly institution".
So ran the Times headline on 4th January in an article about Heather Bateman's experience with the Court of Protection after an accident, which left her husband in a coma. Mrs Bateman's very real problems could probably have been avoided if her husband had given her a Lasting Power of Attorney to run the bank account, which paid most of the household bills. In the absence of a Lasting Power of Attorney, she had to apply to the Court to be appointed as her husband's Deputy, a long and costly process which ultimately "brought almost as much anger, grief and frustration" into Mrs Bateman's life as the accident itself. This is a scenario which should be avoided at all costs.
17/12/09 Renewal of business leases - new case
The case of Inclusive Technology - v - Williamson of 2009 is important for both landlords and tenants in cases where a tenant wishes to renew his business lease but the landlord claims possession on the grounds that he is going to carry out works of reconstruction (this is known as "ground f" in the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954).
This case highlights the fact that if the landlord later changes his mind about the reconstruction, but does not inform the tenant who then commits himself to another lease, the tenant may bring a claim for damages for misrepresentation. Any landlord wishing to have the premises back because of proposals to rebuild or reconstruct should therefore act very carefully if changed circumstances mean that the plans for redevelopment are postponed or cancelled.
For a full report on this case see the Articles section of this website. If you are a landlord or a tenant wishing to have more advice about your position on renewal of business leases, please contact Daniel Stanton or Roger Turner at our Poole Office. (See the Article for contact details)
by Roger Turner
08/12/09 Land Registry flood risk indicator - update
Avid readers of our legal blog will be aware that late in 2008 we responded to a Land Registry survey on whether the Registry ought to offer a new flood risk indicator. The Registry launched the indicator a few days ago and this has met with mixed reactions. Our own Daniel Stanton was contacted by the Daily Telegraph for his opinion:
"The main points I emphasised were that the flood risk indicator was a step in the right direction but should be viewed as part of a package of other measures that can be taken to find out as much as possible about a property prior to purchase. Solicitors had been gathering information of flood risk for their clients for nearly a decade now and whereas more information was for the better when purchasing a property, you would always need a solicitor and surveyor to put the information into context.
The additional measures need to include specific enquiries of the Environment Agency and commercial search agencies, who have been providing this information for many years now. The Land Registry have reduced the risk of casual observers making too much of the flood risk indicator by including a lengthy disclaimer asking readers to refer to the Environment Agency. I expressed my concern that the Land Registry flood risk indicator should not be a required component of the Home Information Pack, as there was a real risk that a buyer without legal representation at that stage could take the "headline" in the flood risk indicator, showing whether or not there was a risk of flooding, and this could cause a potential purchaser unnecessary concern. I was pleased to see that the Land Registry had reduced this risk a little by giving more details as to whether it was a low, medium or high flood risk immediately underneath the "headline".
My main concern was that the flood risk indicator does not give any indication of risk from surface water flooding (such as flash flooding from torrential rain outside of a river or coastal flood plain). This may well be due to the difficulty in predicting the flow of such water without there having been such a downpour before, but is nonetheless a major flaw in the Land Registry indicator.
All property information is a snapshot in time and needs to be continually updated to ensure that new flood defences and developments that increase the range of travel of floodwater are taken into account. This does not need to be on a daily basis but would need to be fairly often."
by Roger Turner
19/11/09 History of D'Angibau LLP (Part 4) by Roger Turner
Derrick Stuart Holmes ("Jim") and Canford Cliffs Office
Jim Holmes joined the firm after the Second World War and became a Partner in 1948. He served in the Army from 1939 to 1945 ending his career as a Major. According to Richard Malim he was the first officer to land in Jersey during the liberation of the Channel Islands and delivered the King's Proclamation to the islanders.
Richard reports that Jim Holmes was a very good, accurate lawyer and he started our Canford Cliffs office in 1951 buying the practice from a Miss Spector.
Jim Holmes contracted cancer and died in 1955. The running of the office was then shared between Richard's father and Audrey Kaye. Richard was later the partner in charge until his retirement in 2001.
Derrick Stuart Holmes
by Roger Turner
03/11/09 Boscombe may finally be on the map!
Good news for Boscombe is that the surf reef was officially opened yesterday. I was pleased to see that last night South Today on BBC1 covered the opening of the reef and spent time interviewing surfers, traders and our local councillors. It seems that Boscombe may finally be on the map!
Whilst opinions are divided as to whether the money could have been spent elsewhere the surf reef can only be a good thing. As the only solicitors in Boscombe we have seen the town through the boom times and in times where the area has struggled. In the past couple of years we have seen new shops and restaurants opening and new flats developments being built, which have brought new life into the area. Whilst improvements may be slow it is good to have positive news in the current financial climate. I for one cannot wait to see the marine life growing around the reef, and maybe even try to ride the waves as the surfing weather improves through the winter!
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