My wife and I are looking to purchase a flat in Brent Park and have instructed a Brent Park conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Clydesdale have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Brent Park conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 property lawyer 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Brent Park lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Do the conveyancing practitioners that you recommend handle right to buy conveyancing in Brent Park?
We do have numerous conveyancing experts carrying out right to buy transactions You should get in touch with the solicitors listed with a view to get a costs calculation.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my solicitor is suspended from the Santander Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Brent Park?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as a first time purchaser of a two bedroom flat in Brent Park. Do I pick up the keys to the property on the completion date from my conveyancer? If this is the case, I will find a local conveyancing solicitor in Brent Park?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the completion advance to the seller's lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be able to receive the keys from the selling Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this occurs early afternoon.
Does a directory service exist listing Santander panel solicitors in Brent Park on the Building Society Association’s Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such tool on the CML or Building Society Association websites. Very few mortgage companies make their panel listings open the public over the internet. If you are looking for a Brent Park conveyancer on the Santander please use our tool.
I have paid off my mortgage with Co-operative. I assume I don't need a Brent Park conveyancing practitioner on the Co-operative panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Co-operative mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Co-operative mortgage from the register. Co-operative, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Co-operative has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Co-operative has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I used Wolstenholmes a few years ago for my conveyancing in Brent Park. Now, I need the documents however the law firm has closed. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Brent Park of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I am attracted to a two flats in Brent Park both have approximately fifty years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Brent Park is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the salability of the property. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive 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 a residence 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 Brent Park 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 the agreed 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.
I am the registered owner of a garden flat in Brent Park. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Brent Park conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Brent Park flat is 7 Craven Park in June 2009. The tribunal considered it unnecessary to value the garage as an independent investment or to value each flat separately, providing that the marriage value calculation uses only the participating flats. Accordingly, the price determined by the Tribunal was £41,140 This case related to 5 flats. The unexpired term was 73.14 years.