It is a dozen years since I acquired my home in Brixton. Conveyancing lawyers have recently been retained on the sale but I am unable to find the deeds. Is this a problem?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be with the lender or they could be in the possession of the lawyers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in all probability the title will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Brixton involves registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.
We wanted to use a conveyancing solicitor in Brixton for our home move. Our broker informed us that our mortgage lenders Santander won't deal with them. Surely this is unduly restrictive?
Before the recession most mortgage companies had an appetite for risk which was higher than today. Almost all Brixton conveyancing firms would have been on most bank panels. The Financial Services Authority in 2010 conducted a thematic investigation into mortgage fraud which come to the conclusion: mortgage lenders should know the conveyancing solicitors dealt with. Consequently, mortgage companies are increasingly seeing more information from law firms concerning their operations and their employees and establishing certain criteria such a completing on a minimum volume of conveyancing. Many Brixton conveyancing firms that have been excluded from lender panels have a 100% healthy track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Brixton is one of the thousands of areas where the solicitors we recommend are are approved Santander.
My colleague suggested that where I am purchasing in Brixton I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is usually quoted for as part of the standard Brixton conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Brixton around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Brixton Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Brixton.
It has been five months following my purchase conveyancing in Brixton took place. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £215,000. 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.
I am purchasing my first flat in Brixton with a loan from Bank of Ireland. The sellers refused to budge the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative told me not reveal to my lawyer about the extras as it will impact my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Are there any apps to assist me to identify a Brixton law firm on the Halifax conveyancing panel? I drive a motor bike and am willing to travel upto 10kilometers to meet the lawyer.
You can use the facility on this website. Please select a lender and your location and you will see a number of Brixton conveyancing lawyers located nearest you. We have listed some Brixton conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can ring them to see if they are on the Halifax member panel