It has come to my attention via my mortgage adviser that my Laleham the law firm I have appointed is not on the lender Solicitor panel. How can I be sure whether this is correct?
You need to contact your Laleham lawyer directly. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to advise you what has happened. If they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the approved list of lawyers for your mortgage company.
My partner and I are approaching an exchange on a flat in Laleham and my parents have sent the 10% deposit to my conveyancer. I am now told that as the deposit has been received from someone other than me my property lawyer needs to disclose this to my bank. I am advised that, in also acting for the lender he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I advised the bank about my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really appropriate for him to raise this?
Your lawyer is legally required to check with lender to ensure that they understand that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. Your solicitor can only disclose this to your bank if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
We are selling our flat in Laleham. Will my property lawyer have to be required to be on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their conditions fairly frequently in recent years.
My colleague advised me that where I am purchasing in Laleham I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Laleham conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Laleham around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Laleham.
I opted to have a survey done on a house in Laleham ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. Our surveyor advised that some lenders may not grant a mortgage on this type of premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Laleham. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Laleham especially if they are familiar with such properties in Laleham.
I am employed by a long established estate agency in Laleham where we see a few flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Laleham conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?
As long as the seller has been the owner 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. This means that the proposed purchaser 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 before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 had difficulty in trying to purchase the freehold in Laleham. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Laleham conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Laleham flat is 147 Redford Close in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the lease extension premium to be at £4,200 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 82.93 years.