My partner and I are planning to buy a house in Denmark Hill and have instructed a Denmark Hill conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Coventry Building Society have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Denmark Hill lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Denmark Hill solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I do hope you can assist me. My Denmark Hill lawyer is advising me that he has toapply for Denmark Hill conveyancing searches becausethe firm are on the Virgin Moneysolicitor panel. These Denmark Hill checks cost a lot of money can this be avoided?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. As you are obtaining a mortgage with a mortgage company your property lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your solicitor would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Denmark Hill conveyancing searches.
Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in Denmark Hill is more expensive?
In summary, leasehold conveyancing in Denmark Hill and South London usually requires extra hours of investigation compared to freehold transactions. This includes reviewing the lease, liaising with the landlord about serving applicable notices, securing current service charge and management information, procuring the landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts. The obligations on both the landlord and the tenant in the lease need to be studied by the buyer’s conveyancing team and read from beginning to end – no matter how many different leaseholders have owned the lease since it was first entered into.
I am selling my apartment in Denmark Hill. Does the solicitor need to be on the Nationwide conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Nationwide conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently currently.
I completed on my home on 11 September and my personal details is not yet registered. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in Denmark Hill expressed confidence that it should be concluded inside ten days. Are transfers in Denmark Hill uniquely lengthy to register?
As far as conveyancing in Denmark Hill registration is no faster or slower than the rest of the country. Rather than based on location, timescales can vary subject to who lodges the application, whether it is in order and if the Land registry need to notify any other parties. Currently approximately 80% of submission are completed within two weeks but some can be subject to protracted delays. Registration takes place once the purchaser has moved in to the premises therefore registration formalities is not usually an essential issue yet where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your conveyancer should contact the land registry and explain the circumstances.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Denmark Hill I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Denmark Hill suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term may be an issue. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.