I can't travel far from Harlesden. Is there a reason why all Harlesden conveyancing practitioners are not on all mortgage company panels?
Even though it may seem unfair for lenders to limit who can represent them, from the public’s or solicitor’s standpoint, the other side of the coin is that mortgage companies are increasingly anxious and consider it necessary to shield themselves against mortgage fraud. As a consequence of this concern banks are limiting their conveyancing panel to a size that they are happy to control.
I am purchasing a property mortgage free in Harlesden. I have lived for the previous 20 years in Harlesden. Conveyancing searches are a lot of money. As I know the area and road very well should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?
Provided that you do not need a mortgage, then the vast majority of the Harlesden conveyancing searches are at your discretion. Your solicitor will ’encourage you, no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches carried out, but he is duty bound to take that path of encouragement . Do consider; if you are going to sell the house in the future, it will likely be be of importance to your future purchaser what the searches disclose. On occasion premises with day to day issues can still show up negative search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Harlesden should be able to give you some constructive guidance concerning this.
I am the only beneficiary of my late father’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Harlesden. The Harlesden property was put into my name in March. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', which means that my property ownership will be treated the same way as though I had purchased the house in March. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be impacted by that. How sensible a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this requirement chiefly exists to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of property.
We had instructed solicitors locally in Harlesden on the Yorkshire BS solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a further fee for handling the Yorkshire BS mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Yorkshire BS?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your conveyancer is entitled to levy a fee for this. This fee is not set by Yorkshire BS but by your Harlesden conveyancer. Plenty of firms on the Yorkshire BS panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but plenty of firms include it on their overall fee.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Santander. I assume I don't need a Harlesden solicitor on the Santander panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Santander mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Santander mortgage from the register. Santander, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Santander has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Santander has instructed the Land Registry to do so
My partner and I are planning on selling our house in Harlesden and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being built land that was not decontaminated. Any high street Harlesden lawyer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the buyers are using an online conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Harlesden. Having lived in Harlesden for three years we know of no issue. Should we contact our local Authority to obtain confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. What do they say? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same ailment)
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £195,000 and identified one round the corner in Harlesden I like with a park and railway links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in Harlesden suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a short lease?
Should you require a home loan that many years will be a potential deal breaker. 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 premises for a minimum of 2 years you can request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
I am looking at a two maisonettes in Harlesden both have in the region of forty five years left on the lease term. should I be concerned?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Harlesden is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the property. The majority of buyers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Harlesden conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can I apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Harlesden conveyancing firm to assist?
if there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to determine the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Harlesden flat is First Floor Flat 2B Fortune Gate Road in May 2013. the tribunal decided that the price payable for the lease extension was £9,331, together with £900 in respect of outstanding ground rent. This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 74.31 years.
