My partner and I are intent on acquiring a ground floor flat in Limehouse. My Conveyancer is not listed on the bank conveyancing list. Can I still retain my Limehouse conveyancing solicitor even though they are not on the lender approved list?
Your options include
- Proceed with your existing Limehouse solicitor but your lender will no doubt use a solicitor on their conveyancing panel. The net result is additional charges together with probable frustration.
- Appoint a new conveyancer to conduct the conveyancing, ensuring that they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
- Appeal to your solicitor to seek to join the bank panel
I am buying a property in Limehouse. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Leeds Building Society have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that your lender is Leeds Building Society your lawyer must follow the conveyancing instructions outlined in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Leeds Building Society. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook sets out minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Leeds Building Society where a lease does not comply with these specifications. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not limited to Limehouse.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Limehouse. My mortgage broker suggested a property lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £225. A couple of days later, the solicitor contacted me to say that they were not on the Co-operative 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 Co-operative 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.
Bank of Ireland have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a house in Limehouse has been accepted, what happens next?
The property agent will want to be informed of your solicitor's details (ensure that the property lawyers are on the bank’s panel). Telephone Bank of Ireland or your broker and finalise any appropriate paperwork. Bank of Ireland will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the estate agent or seller to arrange a slot for the valuation to happen. Once conducted (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 conveyancers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Limehouse.
I am downsizing from our house in Limehouse and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was built land that was not decontaminated. Any high street Limehouse lawyer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the buyers used a nationwide conveyancing outfit as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Limehouse. We have lived in Limehouse for six years we know that this is a non issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to seek clarification that there is no issue.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor already. Are they able to advise? You need to enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same ailment)
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Limehouse. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Limehouse
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If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. Please supply a car parking plan. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme.
I have been pointed in your direction by a few selling agents in Limehouse to locate a conveyancer using your seach tool. Is there a financial upside for Estate Agents to offer your site over and above another?
We refuse to give any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers to this site. We found it would be just too difficult a fee as a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
I work for a long established estate agency in Limehouse where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Limehouse conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer 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 has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.
Having spent years of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Limehouse. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
if there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the premium.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Limehouse property is 26 Rhondda Grove in June 2009. The net price payable by the leaseholders as determined by the Tribunal was £3,015.13. This comprised £11,300 premium for the reversion less £8,284.87 costs as ordered by the County Court.
