After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Islington. My mortgage broker suggested a conveyancer. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Not long after, the property lawyer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS 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.
I've digested plenty of mortgage guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Islington solicitor - who is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Clydesdale will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Clydesdale will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Islington surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Bank of Ireland have agreed my home loan in principle, my bid on a flat in Islington has been agreed to, now what?
Your estate agent will want to be informed of your solicitor's details (make sure the solicitors are on the lender’s panel). Contact Bank of Ireland or the financial adviser and finish off any appropriate documentation. Bank of Ireland will instruct a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or vendor to book an appointment. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes on average a week for the mortgage offer to be issued. Bank of Ireland will send the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Islington.
A friend advised me that if I am buying in Islington I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Islington conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Islington around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Islington Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Islington.
five months have gone by following my purchase conveyancing in Islington took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a property in Islington before instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend refuse to issue a loan on a flying freehold premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can investigate further via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Islington. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Islington to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Islington from the perspective of expediting the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Islington can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers’ conveyancers. Many freeholders or Management Companies in Islington charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Islington. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Islington conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later. You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.
My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to purchase the freehold in Islington. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Islington conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Islington flat is 5C Stoke Newington Road in April 2010. the Tribunal therefore concludes that the premium to be paid for the extended lease is £700.00 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 80.5 years.
I am due to consider costs for conveyancing in Islington from various property lawyer and choose one. Am I right to instruct them to sit tight until I a suitable apartment to buy.
You should wait to get your solicitor to commence work and submit searches once the offer has been agreed to on the property particularly as Islington conveyancing searches are not cheap.