My wife and I are planning to buy a 3 bedroom apartment in Colney Hatch with a mortgage. We have a Colney Hatch solicitor, but the lender advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel solicitors or continue with our Colney Hatch solicitor as well as pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This feels very unfair; can we not demand that the bank use our Colney Hatch property lawyer ?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’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. A further alternative is for your Colney Hatch conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
We are acquiring a brand new flat in Colney Hatch and my solicitor is advising me that she has to the mortgage company to reveal incentives from the builder. I am under pressure to sign contracts and I would rather not delay matters. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a mortgage company panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
My bank has recommended a law firm on their panel based in Colney Hatch but I would rather instruct a conveyancing lawyer in Colney Hatch local to me. Are you able to help?
Far from all Colney Hatch conveyancing practitioners are approved and listed on all lender’s conveyancing panel. Please make use of our find an approved solicitor tool to identify a Colney Hatch conveyancing conveyancer on the on the bank panel.
I have been told by my conveyancer that lack of planning permission insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Colney Hatch conveyancing?
The right level of lack of planning permission indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Barclays and Virgin Money. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.
I am the single recipient of my late grandmother’s will and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Colney Hatch. The Colney Hatch property was put into my name in June. I plan to dispose of the property. I do know about the CML 6 month 'rule', meaning my property ownership will be considered the same way as if I'd bought the property in June. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The CML handbook requires conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be caught by that. How practical a view lenders take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this requirement is principally there to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of property.
I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Colney Hatch. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £225. Shortly after, the property lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Virgin Money panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold flat in Colney Hatch. Conveyancing and Britannia mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Colney Hatch who acted for me is not around. Any advice?
First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Colney Hatch conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
After months of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Colney Hatch. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Colney Hatch conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Colney Hatch premises is 90 & 96 Poplar Grove in June 2013. It was held by the Tribunal that the premium to be paid for the new lease in respect of each of the flats referred should be £17,942 This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 68 years.
After what feels like an age I have had an offer on an maisonette in Colney Hatch accepted, but there is a chain. The sellers have put an offer on on an apartment, although it’s not yet agreed to, and are looking at other apartments in the pipeline. I have chosen a local conveyancing lawyer in Colney Hatch. What should be my next step? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with Co-operative?
It is normal to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (home loan application is approx one thousand pounds, then survey, Colney Hatch conveyancing search fees, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Co-operative approved list. As to the subsequent phase this very much depends on the specifics of your transaction, desire for the property and on the state of the market. In a buoyant market some home buyers would apply for a home loan with Co-operative and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their lawyer to move forward with searches.