The Hampton conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Hampton have without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I had to have a lawyer on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel and my preferred Hampton lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to help.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Hampton. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Co-operative have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
As your lender is Co-operative your lawyer must check the conveyancing instructions set out in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Co-operative. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook contains minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Co-operative where a lease fails to meet these specifications. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not limited to Hampton.
I am selling my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in August 2010, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, Principality are being pedantic. The Hampton solicitor who is on the Principality conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Principality are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Principality have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Principality have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Principality may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
I was told two weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by TSB. Is it usual for TSB to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Hampton is approved on their conveyancing panel? TSB have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for TSB to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the TSB conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Various web forums that I have come across warn that are the primary reason for stalling in Hampton conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the most frequent causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Hampton.
Me and my brother own a terraced Georgian house in Hampton. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Clydesdale. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should 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 owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Hampton and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.
In my capacity as executor for the will of my aunt I am disposing of a property in Swansea but reside in Hampton. My solicitor (who is 300 kilometers from mehas requested that I sign a stat dec before completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing solicitor in Hampton who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?
Technically speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or solicitor will do regardless of whether they are Hampton based
Last March I purchased a leasehold property in Hampton. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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).
Having spent years of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Hampton. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Hampton property is 147 Redford Close in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the lease extension premium to be at £4,200 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 82.93 years.