If you had a top tip for selecting a conveyancing solicitor in Hyde Park what would it be?
We would encourage you not to go for the cheapest Hyde Park conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Hyde Park. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £225. A few days later, the solicitor called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Bank of Ireland panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
My offer was accepted on a house in Hyde Park on 24/10/2022, valuation was booked 2 days after, all came back fine. Property lawyer retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Aldermore and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Aldermore to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
What will a local search tell me about the property my wife and I buying in Hyde Park?
Hyde Park conveyancing often starts with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or through a personal search company for instance PSG The local search is essential in every Hyde Park conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any unpleasant once you have moved into your property. The search should reveal data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject areas.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Hyde Park I like with a park and railway links nearby, however it's only got 49 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Hyde Park in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a mortgage that many years may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you may ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
Do I need to be suspicious about third parties that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use an online conveyancing firm as opposed to a local Hyde Park conveyancing firm?
As with many service providers, often suggestions from relatives can be extremely useful or valuable. But there are many players in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, financial adviser and banks might all put forward conveyancers to retain. On occasion these solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but occasionally there may be a financial incentive behind the recommendation. You are at liberty to choose your own conveyancer. However, bear in mind that some lenders have an approved list of law firms you must use for the mortgage aspect of your transaction.
What are the frequently found deficiencies that you come across in leases for Hyde Park properties?
Leasehold conveyancing in Hyde Park is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:
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Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage
A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, The Mortgage Works, and Aldermore all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.
I acquired a basement flat in Hyde Park, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in Hyde Park with a long lease are worth £175,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2080
You have 58 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £23,800 and £27,400 plus legals.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
We own a leasehold flat in Hyde Park. Conveyancing was finalised in last year. I have read on numerous advice forums that I should not allow the the remaining lease term to get too low. Why is that a problem?
Hyde Park domestic long term leases are for a prescribed period - often 99 years when they started. However a significant flats in Hyde Park were built or converted 20 or more years ago and so these leases now have fewer than eighty years remaining. That may sound like a long time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage institutions tend to need leases to have at least 75 years unexpired to be mortgageable. This means that when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are approaching eighty years. To maximise your property value you should be considering whether or not to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. You should note that there are advantages to doing so before the lease hits eighty years as when the lease falls below 80 years the premium to be paid to extend starts to get a lot more expensive.