This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as FTB of a ground floor flat in Elephant and Castle. Do I collect the keys to the property on completion from my conveyancer? If so, I will appoint a local conveyancing solicitor in Elephant and Castle?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the completion advance to the owner’s solicitors, and once they have received this, you will be able to collect the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.
I had an offer accepted on a property in Elephant and Castle on 7/5/2025, valuation was booked 4 days after, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer instructed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Kent Reliance and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Kent Reliance to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
At last I have had an offer on a flat in Elephant and Castle accepted, the sellers do however have a dependent purchase. The sellers have placed an offer on somewhere, but it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other flats in the pipeline. I have chosen a nearby conveyancing solicitor in Elephant and Castle. What should be my next step? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with Barclays?
It is normal to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses prematurely (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, Elephant and Castle conveyancing search fees, etc). First, you should ensure that your solicitor is on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Regarding the subsequent phase this very much dictated by the specifics of your transaction, motivation for this property and on the state of the market. During a rising market many home buyers would apply for a home loan with Barclays and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their lawyer to move forward with the conveyancing in Elephant and Castle.
What can a local search tell me about the house we're buying in Elephant and Castle?
Elephant and Castle conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company for instance Searchflow The local search is essential in every Elephant and Castle conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any nasty once you have moved into your property. The search will reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 topic areas.
I am purchasing a new build house in Elephant and Castle with a mortgage from Nottingham Building Society. The builders would not reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep advised me not reveal to my conveyancer about the side-deal as it may adversely affect my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a quick, no chain conveyancing. Elephant and Castle is where the house is located. Can you offer any guidance?
Flying freeholds in Elephant and Castle are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Elephant and Castle you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Elephant and Castle 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.
I am downsizing from my property. My previous conveyancers have shut. It would be helpful to have a recommendation of a conveyancing firm. I happen to live in Elephant and Castle if that affects matters.
Please use our search tool to help you find a solicitor for your conveyancing in Elephant and Castle. We have connected thousands of home buyers and sellers with regulated solicitors to ensure that the legalities of their house move goes with a minimum of fuss.
There are only 72 years left on my flat in Elephant and Castle. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?
If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Elephant and Castle.
Notwithstanding our best efforts, we have been unsuccessful in seeking a lease extension in Elephant and Castle. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Elephant and Castle premises is Ground Floor Flat 39 Bronsart Road in May 2010. Following a vesting order by West London County Court the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal concluded that the price to be paid for the extended lease of the premises was Thirteen Thousand Two hundred pounds (£13,200) in accordance with the valuation. The extended lease was granted for a term of 90 years from the expiry date of the Lease and at a peppercorn ground rent from the date of the vesting order. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 74.77 years.