My husband and I are looking to purchase a house in Knaphill and have instructed a Knaphill conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Virgin Money have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Knaphill solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 and you may continue to use your own Knaphill solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am under pressure from the executor of a property in Knaphill to exchange within four weeks. What can I do to speed up matters?
In a situation where you are under a tight deadline to exchange it is advisable to make sure that your lawyer is familiar with the location as they will benefit local relationships and know-how. It is possible that they would have conducted otherhomes in the same road. Therefore consider using a Knaphill conveyancing lawyer. Second, ensure that the lawyer is on the on the approved list for your mortgage company. It is understood that 18% of Knaphill conveyancing deals are suspended or derailed after finding out that a purchaser’s lawyer was not on their mortgage lender’s panel. In many cases this discovery resulted in the transaction being held up by an average of 21 days. It is understood that this issue affects in the region of 100,000 home sales annually. Most Knaphill conveyancing practices can not act for certain lenders so do check as early as possible.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Knaphill costs more?
Knaphill leasehold conveyancing transactions usually involve additional investigations than freeholds including investigating the Lease, liaising with the Landlord such as serving appropriate notices on the Landlord or managing agent, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining Landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts and formation documents.
A colleague recommended that where I am purchasing in Knaphill I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Knaphill conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Knaphill around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Knaphill Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Knaphill.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Knaphill?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Knaphill. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Knaphill. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.
Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Knaphill - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Knaphill, conveyancing was carried out in 1996. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in Knaphill with a long lease are worth £211,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2093
With only 68 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.