My wife and I are planning to buy a house in Belvedere and have appointed a Belvedere conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Belvedere lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Belvedere lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I just bought a house at auction in Belvedere. Conveyancing is needed. What happens now?
Having legally committed yourself to purchase you will need to choose a conveyancing lawyer soon as you will have a fast approaching a fixed date to complete the conveyancing. An auction property will have an associated auction pack. This should include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. If you have purchased leasehold premises the legal papers may provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation specific to a leasehold property. You must hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor ASAP. Do make sure that your finances are in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat in Belvedere. I have a mortgage offer with Barclays. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Barclays, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Barclays conveyancing panel.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Belvedere. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Team at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
What does a local search tell me regarding the property my wife and I buying in Belvedere?
Belvedere conveyancing often starts with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search organisations for instance Searches UK The local search plays an important role in most Belvedere conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any nasty surprises after you move into your new home. The search should provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen subject sections.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and found one near me in Belvedere I like with amenity areas and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Belvedere in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
If you require a mortgage the shortness of the lease may be problematic. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £225,000 flat in Belvedere in seven days. The management company has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Belvedere?
Belvedere conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually requires the purchaser’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They are at liberty to invoice a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it exceeds £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.
I am the proprietor of a first floor flat in Belvedere. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?
Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Belvedere conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Belvedere premises is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 76 years.
How do I establish who owns a house in Belvedere?
As long as the premises is recorded at HM Land Registry, and you have enough information of the address of the premises, you should be able to view results from the HMLR of the registered owner for a for less than a fiver.