I am progressing with the sale of my apartment in Hanworth and the EA has just telephoned to warn that the buyers are swapping property lawyer. The excuse is that the bank will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a major lender only deal with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Hanworth ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for over 25 years.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
I am need of leasehold conveyancing for an apartment in a relatively new development (6 years old) in Hanworth. Almost all the properties have already been sold. Is it strictly necessary to order neighbourhood searches as part of conveyancing in Hanworth?
A big part of the Hanworth legal transfer of property is the conveyancing searches. There are numerous companies delivering Hanworth conveyancing searches, as well straight from the local authority. These are generally termed personal search providers and they produce, not surprisingly, personal searches. Nevertheless, all Local Authority Search conveyancing products have one thing in common - they must obtain their data from the local authoritative source.
The deeds to our house can not be found. The conveyancers who did the conveyancing in Hanworth 4 years ago have long since closed. What are my options?
Nowadays there are duplicates made of almost everything, and your solicitor should be aware exactly where to locate all the appropriate documentation so you can buy or dispose of your house without a hitch. Where duplicates are not available, your conveyancer can arrange cover in the form of insurance or indemnities protecting you against possible claims on the premises.
I decided to have a survey done on a house in Hanworth ahead of appointing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. My surveyor advised that some mortgage companies tend not grant a loan on this type of property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different instructions from Halifax. If you e-mail us we can check via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Hanworth. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Hanworth especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Hanworth.
Is it best to choose a Hanworth conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am buying? I have an old university friend who can deal with the legal formalities but his firm is located 300miles drive away.
The benefit of a local Hanworth conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to execute documents, present your ID and pester them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a benefit. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have instructed your friend and they were happy that should outweigh using an unknown Hanworth conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being local.
I work for a busy estate agency in Hanworth where we see a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Hanworth conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?
Provided that 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. The benefit of this is 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 has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.
We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Hanworth. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute 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 make a decision on the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Hanworth flat is 147 Redford Close in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the lease extension premium to be at £4,200 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 82.93 years.
