My wife and I are looking to acquire a house in Kingston upon Thames and have instructed a Kingston upon Thames conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Britannia have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Kingston upon Thames solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Kingston upon Thames lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I am purchasing a property for cash in Kingston upon Thames. I have been living for the last 15 years in Kingston upon Thames. Conveyancing searches are expensive. Given that I know the area and road intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?
If you not getting a home loan, then the vast majority of the Kingston upon Thames conveyancing searches are optional. Your lawyer will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches done, but he is duty bound to do this. Do bear in mind; if you are likely to dispose of the house one day, it will likely be be of interest to your future purchaser what the searches determine. On occasion premises with apparent issues can still throw up unfavourable search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Kingston upon Thames will provide you some sensible advice here.
Have just purchased a probate house at auction in Kingston upon Thames. Conveyancing is required. What are my next steps?
Now that you have to in every practical sense signed on the dotted line you now have to appoint a conveyancing lawyer as a matter of priority as you are faced with a pending deadline in which to complete the conveyancing. All auction property will ordinarily have a bespoke legal set of papers. This will likely include most,if not all of the documents that your lawyer requires. In the case of leasehold premises the conveyancing papers should provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing paperwork pertinent to a leasehold property. You need to pass this on to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding organised to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
I am buying a end of terrace house in Kingston upon Thames. We would like to convert the garage to a playroom at the property.Will legal due diligence on the property involve enquiries to determine if these alterations are permitted?
Your conveyancer will check the deeds as conveyancing in Kingston upon Thames can on occasion reveal restrictions in the title documents which restrict categories of works or need the consent of another owner. Many extensions call for local authority planning permissions and approval in compliance with building regulations. Many areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. It would be prudent to check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
We are getting the release of further monies on our mortgage from UBS as we intend to conduct a loft conversion to our house in Kingston upon Thames. Do we need to choose a nearby Kingston upon Thames solicitor on the UBS conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?
UBS would not normally appoint firms on their approved list of lawyers to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the UBS list.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £245,000 and identified one close by in Kingston upon Thames I like with amenity areas and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Kingston upon Thames for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?
Should you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be an issue. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could ask them to start the process of the extension and pass 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 consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
My father has recommend that I use his conveyancers in Kingston upon Thames. Should I use them?
There are no two ways about it the ideal way to find a conveyancing practitioner is to seek feedback from friends or family who have actually experience in using the solicitor that you are considering.
Jane (my partner) and I may need to rent out our Kingston upon Thames garden flat temporarily due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Kingston upon Thames conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?
The lease governs relations between the landlord and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will say if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain caveats. The rule is that if the lease contains no specific ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Kingston upon Thames do not prevent subletting altogether – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the flat. In most cases there is a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a duplicate of the tenancy agreement.
After years of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Kingston upon Thames. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Kingston upon Thames conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Kingston upon Thames premises is Flat D 15 Claremont Gardens in September 2013. TheTribunal determined in accordance with section48 and Schedule13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease should be fourteen thousand one hundred and eighty seven pounds (£14,187.00) This case was in relation to 1 flat.