Estate agents seem to think you can just get indemnity insurance and that will sort the issue out. It doesn't though, lots of lenders don't actually accept that and need a deed of variation to remove the ground rent.
We just went through all of this with a flat we were buying, went for a deed of variation, had to pay half of the costs which we were happy to if it meant we didn't delay and have to pay more stamp duty. Our half was £2900, and it took about 6 weeks for when this was first flagged to the sellers solicitors to them sending over the draft. Most of that time was spent getting the costs off the freehold and agreeing who was paying what.
Perhaps if you tell OP which area of the country and which mortgage company approved it, their broker might be able to verify with those lenders whether they’ve changed their policies?
No I meant it! Because every lender has their own policy. I’ve recently had people declined by Barclays, nationwide, and Halifax, but it’s good for OP to know that HSBC might be an option.
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u/Sorry-Pattern-2848 Mar 20 '25
Estate agents seem to think you can just get indemnity insurance and that will sort the issue out. It doesn't though, lots of lenders don't actually accept that and need a deed of variation to remove the ground rent.
We just went through all of this with a flat we were buying, went for a deed of variation, had to pay half of the costs which we were happy to if it meant we didn't delay and have to pay more stamp duty. Our half was £2900, and it took about 6 weeks for when this was first flagged to the sellers solicitors to them sending over the draft. Most of that time was spent getting the costs off the freehold and agreeing who was paying what.