Much to our surprise we have been told by our lender that my Belgravia solicitor is not on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. How can I check?
Your first step should be to call your Belgravia conveyancer. You lawyer should advise you what has happened. If they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Belgravia conveyancing practice that is on the conveyancing panel for your mortgage company.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Belgravia? What am I being asked for?
It is indeed that case that the requirement set out by your solicitor has nothing to do with conveyancing in Belgravia. However these days you can not proceed with any conveyancing process in the absence handing over proof of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence plus a bank statement. Please note that if you are providing your driving licence as evidence of identification it must be both the paper section and photo card part, one is not sufficient in the absence of the other.
Proof of the source of monies is required in accordance with the Money Laundering Regulations. Don’t be offended when you are asked to produce this as your lawyer will need to retain this information on record. Your Belgravia conveyancing solicitor will need to see evidence of proof of funds before they are able to accept any monies from you into their client account and they will also ask further queries regarding the origin of monies.
A colleague recommended that if I am purchasing in Belgravia I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Belgravia conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Belgravia around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Belgravia Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data about Belgravia.
2 months have elapsed following my purchase conveyancing in Belgravia completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the residence from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
My father-in-law has urged me to use his conveyancing solicitors in Belgravia. Should I find my own conveyancer?
Much as we are happy to recommend a Belgravia conveyancing lawyer the best way to choose a conveyancing lawyer is to have guidance from friends or family who have actually used the firm that you are contemplating using.
We own a leasehold flat in Belgravia. Conveyancing was finalised in five years ago. I have been told that I should not let the lease length get too short. What is the reasoning?
Belgravia leasehold properties are for a set term - often ninety nine years when they commenced. However a significant flats in Belgravia were constructed or converted in the 70’s80’s and so these leases now have under 80 years unexpired. That may sound like plenty of time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders tend to require leases to have a minimum of seventy five years remaining to be mortgageable. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are nearing 75 years. To increase your property value you should be considering whether or not to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. Furthermore advantages to taking action before the lease reaches even eighty years as when the lease is below eighty years the amount to be paid to extend starts to get a lot more expensive.