My conveyancer has identified a a legal deficiency with the lease for the flat we are buying in De Beauvoir Town. The seller’s lawyers have put forward title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will pay for it. Our conveyancing practitioner says that he must ensure that the bank is willing to move forward with this solution. Are we the client or is the mortgage company ?
Regardless of the fact that you have a mortgage offer from the lender does not mean to say that the property will meet their provisions for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. You and the mortgage company are the client. These conveyancing instructions have to be complied with.
Can I be sure that the De Beauvoir Town conveyancing solicitor on the Co-operative panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town obtaining recommendations is a sensible start. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always advise that you speak with the solicitor handling your transaction.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in De Beauvoir Town. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £175. A couple of days later, the property lawyer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS 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.
After what feels like an age I have had an offer on a flat in De Beauvoir Town accepted, but there is a chain. The sellers have put an offer on a property, but it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other flats in the pipeline. I have selected a nearby conveyancing solicitor in De Beauvoir Town. What do I do now? At what point do I apply for the mortgage with RBS?
It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then survey, De Beauvoir Town conveyancing search fees, etc). First, you must ensure that your lawyer is on the RBS conveyancing panel. Concerning the next stages this very much depends on the uniqueness of your transaction, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. In a rising market some purchasers would apply for the mortgage with RBS and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their property lawyer to press on with the conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town.
I have todaybecome aware that Stirling Law have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town for a purchase of a leasehold flat 12 months ago. How can I establish that my home is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?
The quickest way to see if the property is registered to you, you can carry out 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 De Beauvoir Town conveyancing specialists.
How does conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in De Beauvoir Town approach us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is built. This is because builders in De Beauvoir Town usually purchase the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town or who has acted in the same development.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in last month in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. De Beauvoir Town is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in De Beauvoir Town are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside De Beauvoir Town you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in De Beauvoir Town may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town from the perspective of expediting the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in De Beauvoir Town can be reduced where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers’ conveyancers. You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale. If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing. If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? De Beauvoir Town leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you dont have the approvals in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance. A minority of De Beauvoir Town leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly 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 have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a De Beauvoir Town conveyancing firm to help?
Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to determine the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a De Beauvoir Town premises is 5C Stoke Newington Road in April 2010. the Tribunal therefore concludes that the premium to be paid for the extended lease is £700.00 This case affected 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 80.5 years.
