I am selling my house in Hampstead and the EA has just called to advise that the buyers are changing their law firm. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a big named mortgage company only work with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Hampstead ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
As someone not used to the Hampstead conveyancing process what’s the number one tip you can impart concerning the house moving process in Hampstead
Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Hampstead or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of opportunity for friction between you and others involved in the legal transfer of property. For instance, the seller, estate agent and even potentially a mortgage company. Selecting a law firm for your conveyancing in Hampstead is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the legal process whose interest is to protect your legal interests and to keep you safe.
We are witnessing a distinct ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone has to be blamed for the process taking so long. We recommend that you your first instinct should be to trust your conveyancer above the other players in the conveyancing process.
I'm buying a new build house in Hampstead with a mortgage from Halifax. The sellers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The estate agent suggested that I not reveal to my solicitor about the side-deal as it will adversely affect my loan with Halifax. Should I keep quiet?.
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.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Hampstead I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Hampstead suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a mortgage that many years will likely be an issue. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least 2 years you may request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.
How simple is it to transfer to a new solicitor as I have to appoint one who is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. I had appointed a family conveyancing solicitor in Hampstead round the corner but he is not approved by Virgin Money
It would be our pleasure to help you find a conveyancing solicitor in Hampstead on the Virgin Money panel. Please note that the property lawyers that we list do not pay us a referral fee if you instruct them and are fully regulated by the SRA who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in Hampstead. In utilising the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this website, you can contrast costs for conveyancing solicitors in Hampstead and throughout England and Wales.
Back In 2005, I bought a leasehold flat in Hampstead. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Hampstead who previously acted has now retired. What should I do?
First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Hampstead conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
Having spent months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Hampstead. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Hampstead conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Hampstead property is Raised Ground Floor Flat 20 Fitzjohns Avenue in July 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premiums to be paid for new leases in respect of the Raised Ground Floor Flat and the First Floor Flat were to be calculated as: Raised Ground Floor: £765,175.14 First Floor: £601,617.77 This case related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 16.83 and 16.43.