I am purchasing a property without a mortgage in London. I have been residing for the last 20 years in London. Conveyancing searches are expensive. Given that I know the area and road very well should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?
If you not getting a home loan, then all but one or two of the London conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your solicitor will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have searches done, but he has a professional duty to take that path of guidance. One thing to bear in mind; if you are likely to dispose of the house at a future date, it may be of interest to your future purchaser what the searches determine. There are plenty of instances where houses with day to day issues can still throw up adverse search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in London will be able to give you some sensible advice concerning this.
Do conveyancers request money on account when it comes to conveyancing in London?
If you are buying a property in London your solicitor will ask you to provide them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. Ordinarily this is asked for to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. When the deposit is payable against the purchase price then this should be asked for immediately prior to exchange of contracts. Any further balance that is needed will be payable a couple of days ahead of the completion date.
My wife and I have a renovated Edwardian house in London. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Accord Mortgages Ltd. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in London and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also question the position with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the work.
How does conveyancing in London differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in London come to us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is completed. This is because house builders in London typically purchase the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in London or who has acted in the same development.
Are there any apps to help identify a London law firm on the Skipton Building Society conveyancing panel? I drive a motor bike and am willing to travel upto 10miles to meet the lawyer.
You can use the facility on this page. Please pick a bank and your location and you will see a number of London conveyancing lawyers located nearest you. We have detailed some London conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can telephone them to check if they are on the Skipton Building Society approved list
I've recently bought a leasehold house in London. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I am the registered owner of a ground flat in London. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for a lease extension?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a London conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a London property is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 73.26 years.