My wife and I are soon to exchange on the purchase of a house in Highgate but as a consequence of wreckage from the recent storms I have managed to agree compensation from the owner in the sum of £3k in the form of a deduction in the price. This was going to be addressed as part of the conveyancing process but Coventry BS are not allowing this. Should they have been involved?
Your property lawyer that is on a Coventry BS approved list is duty bound to disclose to Coventry BS of any changes to the purchase price. If you prohibit your conveyancing practitioner to notify the price change to Coventry BS then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Coventry BS and you would have to appoint a new solicitor for your conveyancing in Highgate.
I am thinking of mortgaging my house in Highgate, does my lawyer need to be on the Nottingham Conveyancing panel?
There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but Nottingham will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is much more potential for delays and confusion with an additional lawyer added to the mix, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.
Are all Highgate Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Coventry BS conveyancing list of approved solicitors?
It is true that some banks and building societies now make use of the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to remain on their panels.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Highgate. One unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Lloyds have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Lloyds your lawyer must follow the formal instructions outlined in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Lloyds. The CML Handbook includes minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Lloyds where a lease fails to satisfy these requirements. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not isolated to Highgate.
I have a mortgage with Bank of Ireland for my property in Highgate. Conveyancing has been completed months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Bank of Ireland?
You must advise Bank of Ireland before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Bank of Ireland’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Bank of Ireland will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Bank of Ireland directly. You need not do this via a Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel solicitor.
I'm buying my first flat in Highgate with a mortgage from The Mortgage Works. The builders refused to reduce the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not inform my solicitor about the deal as it would affect my loan with the bank. Is this normal?.
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 am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Highgate where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Highgate conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 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 have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Highgate conveyancing firm to represent me?
in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to judgment on the price payable.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Highgate premises is Flat 2A 19 Shepherds Hill in June 2014. The tribunal concluded in accordance with section 48 and schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act (the 1993 Act) that the premium payable in respect of the grant of a new lease for the Flat be £24,303 (twenty four thousand three hundred and three pounds) This case was in relation to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 67.85 years.
My 20yr old son is about to join the property ladder, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. One the seller agreed the offer on the flat we contacted the mortgage institution to progress the mortgage application. I was shocked to discover that banks do not accept all conveyancing practitioner, they must be on their panel, is this correct?
Banks tend to imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their panel. Typical examples of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Highgate lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Presumably not.