As I am unsure how the conveyancing bit works what is the most important advice you can give me concerning purchase conveyancing in Gipsy Hill?
Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Gipsy Hill or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of opportunity for confrontation between you and others involved in the transaction. For example, the vendor, selling agent and even potentially your bank. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Gipsy Hill should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE party in the transaction whose interest is to protect your legal interests and to protect you.
On occasion a potential adversary may try and sway you that it is in your interests to do things their way. As an example, the selling agent may claim to be assisting by suggesting your solicitor is slow. Or your financial adviser may try to convince you to do take action that is against your conveyancers advice. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties in the conveyancing process.
I am helping my sister sell her flat in Gipsy Hill. Does the solicitor arrange an energy performance certificate or it is for the seller to see to?
After the abolition of Home Packs, energy assessments was kept a required element of moving house. An EPC must be to hand prior to the property being advertised. It is not as aspect of the sale process that law firms normally arrange. Where you are instructing a Gipsy Hill conveyancing solicitor they might help arrange energy assessments due to their contacts with long established local energy assessors
It is not clear whether my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have telephoned my Gipsy Hill building society branch on numerous occasions and was advised it wasn't a problem and they will lend. My Gipsy Hill conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called and was told they will not lend in accordance with their specific requirements. Who do I believe?
Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook Part 2 requirements for your lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Gipsy Hill. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor. I paid an on account payment of £225. Shortly after, the property lawyer called me to say that they were not on the RBS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the RBS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Will commercial conveyancing searches reveal planned roadworks that may affect a commercial estate in Gipsy Hill?
Its becoming the norm that commercial conveyancing solicitors in Gipsy Hill will conduct a SiteSolutions Highways report as it reduces the time that conveyancers invest in sourcing accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Gipsy Hill. The report sets out definitive data on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Gipsy Hill.
For each commercial conveyancing transaction in Gipsy Hill it is crucial to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately may cause delays to Gipsy Hill commercial conveyancing deals as well as present a risk to future plans for the site. These searches are not carried out for residential conveyancing in Gipsy Hill.
My wife and I have a renovated Georgian property in Gipsy Hill. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Halifax. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Gipsy Hill and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who carried out the work.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Gipsy Hill is where the house is located. Is there any advice you can impart?
Flying freeholds in Gipsy Hill are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Gipsy Hill you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Gipsy Hill may determine 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 residence.
Last March I purchased a leasehold house in Gipsy Hill. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such matters? Can you recommend a Gipsy Hill conveyancing firm to help?
in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Gipsy Hill residence is Flat 1 4 Border Crescent in March 2012. the Tribunal decided that the sum payable by the Applicants to the Respondent in respect of the new lease for the subject property should be £11,616.00 (ElevenThousand and Six Hundred and Sixteen Pounds) This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 72.04 years.