Accordant Estates, Basildon, Essex

Re-mortgaging my property

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We must stress that we cannot give legal advice, so residents who are re-mortgaging should always seek advice from their solicitors.

  1. Restrictions are placed within the leases/transfers (purchase) by the developer when the first documents regarding your property are drawn up. These restrictions should have been explained to you by your solicitors at the time of purchase.
  2. The restriction is in place to ensure that whoever buys (owns) a property will carry out the terms of the lease/transfer (purchase) including paying of the service charge (both leasehold and freehold) and in most cases requires that the incoming purchaser enters into a Deed of Covenant stating they will abide by the terms of the original lease/transfer (purchase).
  3. The restriction requires that the buyer/owner (in the case of a re-mortgage), usually through the solicitors acting on their behalf, informs the Management Company via Accordant of what is happening with the property. In the case of a re-mortgage a Notice of Charge and copy of the Mortgage Deed is required. These documents give us details of the lender so that in a default (e.g. arrears with service charge) we can approach the lender for payment.
  4. Once the documents have been supplied, Accordant issues a ‘Certificate of Compliance’.  This certificate tells the Land Registry that the purchaser/owner has complied with the terms of the lease/transfer and is sent to the Land Registry by your solicitors with the application to register the charge (mortgage).
  5. Not all leases / deeds are the same. Your documents will show the restrictions as follows:
  • In a Lease they are usually in a clause headed Alienation and another headed Registration.
  • In regard to a Freehold Property the clause will likely be headed
  1. The fee charged by Accordant has been set by the developer and is to cover the cost of processing the transaction and sending the “Certificate of Compliance” to your solicitor. Your solicitor will likely also charge a fee. Accordant is exploring ways to reduce (or even eliminate) this fee with our legal advisors.

Fees will be incurred each time you re-mortgage your property.

  1. The restriction, insofar as it relates to shared areas, refers to all communal areas (not just shared drives for example). The service charges are collected to pay for services provided by Accordant and for those of the various contractors maintaining the estate.

We strenuously advise residents not to withhold service charge payments, not least because of the implications on the ownership of your property as well as the impact on your credit rating with the resultant complications that can ensue. Residents who have completed this process have advised:

  1. Tell your solicitor about the restriction and the need to contact Accordant so as to avoid delays further down the process. Please contact accounts@accordantestates.com
  2. The new mortgage provider will need evidence that you are not in arrears with your service charges. Accordant can provide details of your account on request. Please call 01268 816 829 for assistance in this matter.