My husband and I are hoping to acquire a house in Grahame Park and have appointed a Grahame Park conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. The Royal Bank of Scotland have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Grahame Park conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Grahame Park 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.
I am helping my niece sell her house in Grahame Park. Does the conveyancer arrange an energy assessment or should I organise this?
After the demise of Home Information Packs, EPC’s remained a mandatory component of selling a property. An energy performance certificate must be commissioned before the property is put on the market. It is not a task that conveyancers ordinarily organise. If you are using a Grahame Park conveyancing practitioner they might help arrange EPC’s due to their contacts with long established local accredited person
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Grahame Park off the council. I have a mortgage offer with Skipton. Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should use one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with Skipton, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Skipton conveyancing panel.
I've read lots of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Grahame Park solicitor - who is on the UBS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
UBS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually UBS 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. Your solicitor will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Grahame Park postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with UBS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Grahame Park.
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and identified one near me in Grahame Park I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Grahame Park suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a mortgage that many years will likely be an issue. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.
We're new to the buying process - had an offer accepted, but the agent informed us that the vendor will only go ahead if we appoint their chosen solicitors as they need a ‘quick sale’. My instinct tells me that we should use a local conveyancer used to conveyancing in Grahame Park
It is improbable the sellers are driving this. Should the vendor require ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated purchaser is likely to cause more damage than good. Contact the sellers directly and explain that (a)you are serious purchasers (b)you are ready to go, with mortgage lined up © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you intend to appoint your own,trusted Grahame Park conveyancing lawyers - rather thanthe ones that will give their estate agent a kickback or meet his conveyancing figures pre-set by head office.
All being well we will complete the disposal of our £475,000 flat in Grahame Park in 10 days. The freeholder has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Grahame Park?
For most leasehold sales in Grahame Park conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :
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Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
Where consent is required before sale in Grahame Park
Supplying insurance information
Deeds of covenant upon sale
Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
Following months of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Grahame Park. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
in cases where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the premium.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Grahame Park premises is 1 & 1A Sunningfields Crescent in September 2013. The Tribunals calculation of the amount to be paid into court in respect of the value of the freehold interest is £11,997 in respect of Flat 1 and £15,781 in respect of Flat 1A for a total of £27,778. This case affected 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 71.5 years.
How and when do I incur the Stamp Duty Land Tax payable for my house transaction in Grahame Park?
The solicitor should complete a stamp duty return for you as part of your Grahame Park conveyancing transaction for signature. On completion your property lawyer will submit your STL Return Form to the Inland Revenue and - assuming they have the money - settle any land tax liability for you.
