Subletting your home
If you are a freeholder or leaseholder, you do not need our permission to sublet your home. However, you are still responsible for making sure any annual charge or ground rent is paid to us on time.
If you decide to rent your home, you will need to tell us your new address and the name of your tenant. To do this, please contact our customer services team by emailing enquiries@bvt.org.uk or call 0300 333 6540.
Please also be aware that as the landlord of the property, you remain accountable for any responsibilities that are breached by your tenant.
Selling or buying a property
Change of ownership is the process of selling or purchasing a property.
Choosing to live and buy a home in a BVT-managed community is slightly different to living in other areas, as there is a restriction in the title of the property as prescribed by the Land Registry as we (Bournville Village Trust) are the long-term stewardship provider for the area in which your property is located.
For Lawley and Lightmoor communities please see the formal guidance below:
3 (23.09.2016) RESTRICTION: No disposition of the registered estate (other than a charge) by the proprietor of the registered estate is to be registered without a certificate signed by Bournville Village Trust of 350 Bournville Lane, Bournville, Birmingham B30 1QY or their conveyancer that the provisions of clauses 7.2 and 2.15(c) of the transfer dated referred to in the Charges Register have been complied with.
For all other properties within the areas that we manage, a Deed of Covenant may be required.
This means the equity of your property cannot be transferred either by sale or by amendments without a certificate of compliance from us.
What is the cost of this and what does it include?
A flat rate of £294 is charged, which covers all the costs and fees involved in the legal process of transferring ownership of your property to someone else. This includes
- All correspondance
- Answering all queries/questionnaires
- Providing information relating to any outstanding amounts owed
- Providing information relating to any breach of covenant
- Providing information relating to any consents issued
- Checking the required Deed of Covenant
- Issuing the required certificate of compliance
- Notice Fee
- VAT
For properties within the Bournville Estate Scheme of Management, the pack also includes:
- The Scheme of Management
- Statement of Account
- Details regarding recent property alterations
- New owner contact details form
- Direct debit form
You may also be required to have a completed Deed of Covenant which is charged at £180. On completion, and once registered with Land Registry, a copy of the notice of transfer is required by BVT to update legal records held.
We do not stipulate which party covers any part or all of the fee, it is down to negotiations between the buyer and seller (or their solicitors) to determine how the fee is covered.
New buyer information
When a property is transferred, there is a legal requirement to ensure that the new buyer enters into a Deed of Covenant, which are the same covenants you did when you purchased your home.
It is important this happens because if the Deed is not signed, the new owner would not be bound by all the covenants. As being bound by covenants is critical to long term stewardship and fair to all residents, there is a restriction on the property title.
This means the Land Registry will not register the transfer (effectively will block the sale) unless they receive a certificate of compliance signed by us to tell them we have checked the Deed and there are no outstanding issues (e.g., outstanding breaches/annual charge) for the transfer to proceed.
As part of the conveyancing process, we will communicate with both the sellers and buyer’s solicitors, filling out and returning questionnaires and answering queries, checking the Deed is filled out correctly and advise if there are any mistakes. We will also usually supply copies of accounts and information on the Wear and Tear Fund for Lawley and Lightmoor Villages.
We then create the certificate of compliance (a legal document), which is signed by one of our Trustees, a Power of Attorney or our conveyancer and then send it to solicitors.
At the end of the process, there is a legal requirement to provide us with a notice of transfer. We check and acknowledge this and use it to update our systems with new information, noting any charges (such as a mortgage) against the property.
When buying a new property from a developer, there are no fees involved from BVT as there are no requirements for any of the legal work involved in a resale. A resident involved in other resales of property may be asked to contribute towards the fees, but this is down to negotiations with the seller.
We appreciate this is an additional cost in what is already an expensive process (buying and selling a house). It should be seen as part of the overall legal costs, like paying a solicitor for their time to deal with all of the other legal matters.
Transfer of equity
The fee covers both the administration costs, issuing the certificate of compliance, the notice fee as well as VAT (our actual fee is £294 inc VAT).
Although, the removal of a name from a property would seem a straightforward process, you must engage a solicitor as there are several legal processes that must take place. One of these processes is informing the Land Registry we consent to the transfer.
To do this, we need to deal with any solicitor’s enquiries, undertake several checks on our records and then create the certificate of compliance (a legal document) which must be signed by one of our Trustees, a Power of Attorney or our conveyancer and then sent to solicitors.
At the end of the process, there is a legal requirement to provide us with a notice of transfer. We then must check and acknowledge this and use it to update our systems with new information, noting any charges (such as a mortgage) against the property.
If you would like more information regarding the process of selling your home, or your solicitor has asked for details, please call us on 0300 333 6540.