My wife and I are looking to buy a flat in Mortlake and are in fact using a Mortlake conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Coventry Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Mortlake lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Mortlake lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am the registered owner of a freehold residence in Mortlake but nevertheless charged rent, why is this and what is this?
It’s unusual for properties in Mortlake and has limited impact for conveyancing in Mortlake but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the generation of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.
Old rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a lump sum payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence in 2037 is to be dispensed with completely.
Will my solicitor be raising enquiries concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Mortlake.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers specialising in conveyancing in Mortlake. Plenty of people will acquire a property in Mortlake, completely expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or dispose of the property. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Conveyancers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a various checks that can be carried out by the purchaser or by their conveyancers which will figure out the risks in Mortlake. The standard information supplied to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a standard question of the seller to determine if the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that the residence has been flooded in past and is not notified by the owner, then a purchaser could issue a claim for damages as a result of such an misleading response. A purchaser’s conveyancers may also order an enviro report. This should higlight if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional inquiries should be made.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Mortlake in advance of retaining conveyancers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. The surveyor advised that some lenders will refuse to give a loan on this type of house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Nationwide. If you call us we can check via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Mortlake. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Mortlake especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Mortlake.
My husband and I are FTB’s - agreed a price, yet the estate agent has warned us that the seller will only move forward if we use their recommended lawyers as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a high street solicitor used to conveyancing in Mortlake
It is unlikely the owners are behind this. Should the owner want ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated purchaser is going to damage their objectives. Avoid the agents and go straight to the owners and explain that (a)you are serious purchasers (b)you are ready to progress, with mortgage lined up © you are chain free (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you are going to appoint your own,trusted Mortlake conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will give the negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or achieve conveyancing thresholds demanded by corporate headquarters.
I work for a long established estate agent office in Mortlake where we see a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Mortlake conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as 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 can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed 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.
We have reached the end of our tether in negotiating a lease extension in Mortlake. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Mortlake conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Mortlake residence is 19 St. Margarets Crescent in August 2010. the tribunal was of the view that the premium to be paid by the leaseholder for the freehold reversion was £51,983.00 This case affected 3 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 66.25 years.