My fiance and I are hoping to acquire a flat in Gerrards Cross and are in fact using a Gerrards Cross conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Nationwide Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Gerrards Cross conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. 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 mortgage company 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Gerrards Cross solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We are buying a house in Gerrards Cross. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a solicitor? On completion day we have to deposit our life savings into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our monies?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Coventry BS. I assume I don't need a Gerrards Cross conveyancing practitioner on the Coventry BS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS mortgage from the register. Coventry BS, 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 Coventry BS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Coventry BS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Gerrards Cross. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Almost all lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
My wife and I purchased a terraced Georgian property in Gerrards Cross. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and The Mortgage Works. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Gerrards Cross and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
I'm converting the mortgage on my existing house to a BTL loan with Clydesdale and I will use the ballance of the raised equity as a deposit on another property. The location we are looking at is Gerrards Cross. Will your solicitors be able to act for both sets of lenders and tie in the conveyances?
Make use of our search tool on this page to be sure that the solicitors are approved by both banks. On the basis that they are the solicitor should be able to tie up the two conveyancing matters but you should talk with you solicitor and specify your desired outcome and requirements.
Helen (my wife) and I may need to sub-let our Gerrards Cross garden flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Gerrards Cross conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?
The lease governs the relationship between the landlord and you the leaseholder; in particular, it will say if subletting is prohibited, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Gerrards Cross do not prevent an absolute prevention of subletting – such a clause would adversely affect the market value the flat. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without any joy. Can one make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Gerrards Cross conveyancing firm to help?
Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Gerrards Cross conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Gerrards Cross premises is Flats 8, 11 and 15 Craigmore Court 46 Murray Road in December 2013. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 8 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,438 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenants of Flat 11 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,791 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 15 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,638 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . This case was in relation to 3 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 71 years.
At last I have had an offer on an apartment in Gerrards Cross accepted, but there is a chain. The vendors have offered on somewhere, however it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other properties in the pipeline. I have selected a nearby conveyancing lawyer in Gerrards Cross. What should be my next step? When do I get the mortgage application with Barclays going with Barclays?
It is standard to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur costs prematurely (mortgage application is in the region of £1k, then survey, Gerrards Cross conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you must ensure that your conveyancer is on the Barclays approved list. Concerning the next stages this very much dictated by the circumstances of your transaction, desire for this property and on the state of the market. In a hot market many purchasers would apply for the mortgage with Barclays and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they pay their property lawyer to press on with the conveyancing in Gerrards Cross.