Me and my fiance are buying a 3 bedroom apartment in Chinatown with a mortgage. We would like to retain our Chinatown conveyancer, however the mortgage company says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel conveyancing practices or retain our Chinatown conveyancing practitioner and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your Chinatown conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Would the conveyancing lawyers via your comparison service perform attended exchange conveyancing in Chinatown?
We do have a number of conveyancing specialists carrying out personalised exchanges. You should call us to get a costs illustration and details as to availability.
We are purchasing a house and the lawyer has identified Chancel Repair to which the property could be liable because it falls into the area of such a church. He has suggested insurance. Is this strictly necessary for conveyancing in Chinatown
Unless a prior purchase of the premises took place post 12 October 2013 you may expect lawyers conducting conveyancing in Chinatown to remain recommending a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
I have recentlybecome aware that Arc property Solicitors have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Chinatown for a purchase of a freehold house 10 months ago. How can I check that the property is in my name in the name of the former proprietor?
The quickest way to check if the premises is registered to you, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Chinatown conveyancing specialists.
I'm remortgaging my current house to a buy to let mortgage with Godiva Mortgages Ltd and I will use the ballance of the raised equity as a down payment on further property. The neighborhood we are talking about is Chinatown. Will your solicitors be able to act for the two banks and link together the transactions?
Do use our search tool on this page to check that the solicitors are on the appropriate lender panels. Assuming that they are your conveyancer will be able to tie up the two conveyancing matters but you should have a chat with you solicitor and make clear your expectations and needs.
Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown with the purpose of expediting the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives. If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Chinatown conveyancing transaction. If a new share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible. If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved. A minority of Chinatown leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
I inherited a a ground floor purpose built flat in Chinatown. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?
Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Chinatown conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Chinatown flat is 36 New Wanstead in August 2010. The Tribunal arrived at a valuation of the premium for the freehold of £22,359. This case affected 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 73.92 years.