Our god-son is about to exchange on a house that has just been built in Fulham with a home loan from Aldermore. His conveyancer has said that there is a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Aldermore conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
I have recentlyfound out that Wolstenholmes have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Fulham for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 9 months ago. How can I establish that my home is registered correctly in the name of the previous owner?
The easiest way to see if the premises is in your name, 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 Fulham conveyancing specialists.
How does conveyancing in Fulham differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Fulham come to us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is built. This is because builders in Fulham tend to 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 conveyancers 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in Fulham or who has acted in the same development.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one near me in Fulham I like with open areas and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 49 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Fulham in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?
If you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you can ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
Last May I purchased a leasehold flat in Fulham. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Fulham. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
Where there is a missing landlord 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 First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the price payable.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Fulham residence is 66 and 66a Wardo Avenue in November 2012. The Tribunal determined that the sum of £8,048 is payable by the Applicants in respect of the price for the freehold of the property This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 93 years and 162 years.
Me and my partner are purchasing a three bedroom bungalowin Fulham with a home loan from a mortgage company. We would like to retain our lawyer in Fulham yet our bank inform us now that he's not listed on their "panel". Apparently we need to choose one of the our lender panel firms or keep our Fulham conveyancer and pay for one of their panel ones to represent our bank. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. The lender home loan issued is subject to conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the mortgage company's conveyancing panel. in the past, most mortgage companies had open panels, including many conveyancing solicitors in Fulham : a mortgagee 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. Another option that might be available is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for your bank.
