My husband and I are buying a new build duplex in Belgravia and my solicitor is telling me that she has to the bank to disclose incentives from the developer. I am on a tight deadline to exchange and my preference is not to prolong deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your lawyer. A precondition to being on a lender panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Belgravia costs more?
Belgravia leasehold conveyancing transactions usually involve additional investigations than freeholds including investigating the Lease, liaising with the Landlord such as serving applicable notices on the Landlord or managing agent, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining Landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts and formation documents.
The Belgravia conveyancing solicitors that just started acting on my purchase in Belgravia have suddenly closed. I chose them because I had to have a firm on the RBS conveyancing panel and my previous Belgravia lawyer was not. I paid them 275 plus VAT in advance. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the RBS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist.
My lawyer has informed me that breach of easement insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Belgravia?
The right level of breach of easement indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Nationwide Building Society and Coventry Building Society. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to borrowers take out such policies.
I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in February 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, Nottingham are being a right pain. The Belgravia solicitor who is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Nottingham are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Nottingham have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Nottingham have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Nottingham may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
I have finally had an offer on a maisonette in Belgravia accepted, the owners do nevertheless have a connected purchase. The sellers have placed an offer on somewhere, however it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other flats in the pipeline. I have chosen a local conveyancing solicitor in Belgravia. What do I do now? At what stage should I apply for the mortgage with Kent Reliance?
It is normal to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, Belgravia conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you must ensure that your property lawyer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Concerning the subsequent phase this very much depends on the specifics of your case, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a hot market some buyers would apply for the mortgage with Kent Reliance and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they request their solicitor to proceed with searches.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Belgravia in advance of instructing conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. Our surveyor advised that some mortgage companies will refuse to grant a loan on such a home.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different requirements for example to Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can check with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Belgravia. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Belgravia especially if they are acquainted with such properties in Belgravia.
I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Belgravia which have about forty five years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Belgravia is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. The majority of purchasers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Belgravia conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
Having spent months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Belgravia. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
if there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to decide the price payable.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Belgravia property is Flat 3 47 Cadogan Square in December 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable to the landord by the leaseholder for the lease extension was £732,935 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 13.33 years.
