I am buying a property without a mortgage in East Sheen. I have resided for the previous 20 years in East Sheen. Conveyancing searches are expensive. Given that I have knowledge of the area and road very well should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?
Provided that you do not need a home loan, then all but one or two of the East Sheen conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your solicitor will try and steer you, perhaps strongly, that you should have searches done, but he has a professional duty to take that path of encouragement . Do take into account; if you are intend to dispose of the house in the future, it will be of importance to your future buyer what the searches reveal. On occasion properties with no practical issues can still show up unexpected search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in East Sheen should be able to give you some sensible guidance concerning this.
It is 10 years ago since I bought my home in East Sheen. Conveyancing solicitors have just been instructed on the sale but I can't find my title documents. Will this jeopardise the sale?
Don’t worry too much. First there is a possibility that the deeds will be with the lender or they may be in the possession of the solicitor who handled your purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers obtaining current official copies of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in East Sheen relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
I'm at the point of viewing flats in East Sheen and I am now considering a potential offer. Should I already have a lawyer appointed at this stage? I am planning to take a mortgage with HSBC.
You should start obtaining conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the estate agent. As you are getting a mortgage with HSBC, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Santander. I assume I don't need a East Sheen conveyancing practitioner on the Santander panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Santander mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Santander mortgage from the register. Santander, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Santander has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Santander has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I have instructed a East Sheen conveyancer having checked that they are on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Lloyds will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Lloyds will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own East Sheen surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
I have todaybecome aware that Wolstenholmes have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in East Sheen for a purchase of a leasehold flat 18 months ago. How can I be sure that my home is registered correctly in the name of the former proprietor?
The quickest method 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 East Sheen conveyancing specialists.
I am a sole trader hoping to take over a lease of an office on a shopping parade. Can you recommend conveyancers offering fixed costs for non-domestic conveyancing in East Sheen for below £1,200?
We are happy to recommend firms who have an in-depth of experience of commercial conveyancing in East Sheen, including the disposal and acquisition of businesses as well as simply property. If you are looking to purchase or sell a shop, pub, restaurant, office, retail unit or a complete business we can put you in touch with the right firm. As for the fees this will depend on the structure and terms of the deal. Please provide us with your contact information or email so as to enable us to furnish you with a detailed commercial conveyancing calculation.
I’m about to sell my garden apartment in East Sheen. Conveyancing has not commenced, but I have just had a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?
The sensible thing to do is pay the maintenance contribution as you normally would as all ground rent and maintenance invoices should be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
I own a ground-floor 1960’s flat in East Sheen. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for a lease extension?
Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to determine the sum to be paid.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a East Sheen premises is 19 St. Margarets Crescent in August 2010. the tribunal was of the view that the premium to be paid by the leaseholder for the freehold reversion was £51,983.00 This case related to 3 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 66.25 years.