My son-in-law is in the process of securing a house that has just been built in Norbury with a mortgage from Santander. His conveyancer has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Santander conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Santander conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
It is 10 years ago since I purchased my house in Norbury. Conveyancing lawyers have just been instructed on the sale but I can't find the deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly the deeds may be retained by the lender or they may be in the possession of the conveyancers who oversaw the purchase. Secondly in most cases the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers procuring up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Norbury relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it is more of a problem but is resolvable.
The Norbury conveyancing solicitors that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Norbury have suddenly closed. I chose them because I had to have a lawyer on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and my previous Norbury lawyer was not. I sent them a cheque for £250 in advance. What are my options?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to assist.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Norbury is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Norbury are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Norbury you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Norbury may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
Do I need to be wary by 3rd parties that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use a nationwide conveyancing firm as opposed to a local Norbury conveyancing practice?
As is the case with lots of professional services, often input from relatives can be worth their weight in gold. But there are many people with a keen interest in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and lenders might all suggest conveyancers to appoint. Sometimes the conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as being good in their field, but sometimes there might be a financial incentive behind the endorsement. You have the right to appoint your own lawyer. You need to be aware that the majority of banks operate an approved list of solicitors you have to use for the mortgage related work in your home move.
I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Norbury where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Norbury conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate 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 wait 2 years to extend their lease. 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.
Alternatively, it may be possible 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 months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Norbury. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Norbury property is Flat 12, Newlands Court Streatham Common North in May 2012. the decision of the Tribunal was that the premium payable by the Applicants to the Respondent for the new lease of the Premises be £70,140. This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 23.25 years.