Have just purchased a probate house at auction in Hampstead. Conveyancing is required. What happens now?
Having for all intents and purposes signed on the dotted line you should choose a conveyancing practitioner as a matter of priority as you now have a fast approaching deadline in which to complete the conveyancing. An auction property will ordinarily have a bespoke auction pack. This will include most,if not all of the paperwork that your solicitor will need. In the case of leasehold property the legal pack may include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing paperwork pertinent to a leasehold property. You must hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. You also need to ensure that your finances are in place to complete on the date specified in the contract.
Can you point me to a directory of Clydesdale panel conveyancers in Hampstead on the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such tool on the CML or Building Society Association websites. Very few banks make their panel listings available on the web. Where you are seeking to appoint a Hampstead lawyer on the Clydesdale please use our facility.
Having read lots of house buying guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Hampstead solicitor - who is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Leeds Building Society will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Leeds Building Society 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. You may wish to consider appointing your own Hampstead surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Should commercial conveyancing searches reveal planned roadworks that may affect a commercial land in Hampstead?
Its becoming the norm that commercial conveyancing solicitors in Hampstead will order a SiteSolutions Highways report as it reduces the time that conveyancers spend in researching accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Hampstead. The search result sets out definitive information 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 Hampstead.
For every commercial conveyancing transaction in Hampstead it is critical to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been addressed adequately can cause delays to Hampstead commercial conveyancing deals as well as present a risk to future plans for the site. These searches are not conducted for residential conveyancing in Hampstead.
I used Action Conveyancing a few years ago for my conveyancing in Hampstead. I now require my file but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Hampstead of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I decided to have a survey done on a house in Hampstead in advance of instructing solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. Our surveyor advised that some mortgage companies will refuse to grant a mortgage on this type of house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can check via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Hampstead. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Hampstead to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
I need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer in Hampstead for my sale. Is there any facility to review a firm’s complaints history with the profession’s regulator?
Anyone can see presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting from investigations started on or after Jan 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For details about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's record, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. For non-uk callers, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA sometimes recorded telephone calls for training requirements.
I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Hampstead where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Hampstead conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
I inherited a garden flat in Hampstead. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?
Where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to determine the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Hampstead premises 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.