Just contacted my conveyancing lawyer in North London who conducted the legals 18 months ago and wanted a conveyancing quote based on the same type of house move (a leasehold residence and a freehold premises) of similar values with a loan from Barclays . It looks as though am now being charged double. Am I right to be tempted to shop around for an alternative property lawyer?
The estimate does seem a tad steep. If you shop around you could decrease the fees marginally by say £125. That being said, assuming were happy with the service the firm gave you couldcome to regret choosing an a cheaper lawyer. Don't forget to enquire that the solicitor can represent Barclays . Do use our search tool to select a North London conveyancing firm on the Barclays conveyancing panel, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in North London.
Our son-in-law is buying a house that has just been built in North London with a mortgage from Kent Reliance. His lawyer has said that there is a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unexperienced as FTB of a garden flat in North London. Do I pick up the keys to the premises on completion from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will find a High Street conveyancing solicitor in North London?
On the day of completion you do not need to attend the conveyancers office in North London. Conveyancing lawyers for you will electronically transfer the purchase money to the vendor’s solicitors, and once they have received this, you will be able to collect the keys from the Estate Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.
I happen to be the single recipient of my late father’s estate and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in North London. The North London property was put into my name in June. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a CML 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship may be treated the same way as if I'd bought the property in June. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be impacted by that. Some banks would take a pragmatic view as this clause is chiefly there to identify subsales or the flipping of property.
Barclays have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a apartment in North London has been accepted, now what?
Your estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the conveyancing practitioners are on the bank’s approved list). Contact Barclays or the financial adviser and finalise any appropriate documentation. Barclays will appoint a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or vendor to arrange a slot for the valuation to happen. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes about ten days for the mortgage offer to be issued. Barclays will issue the offer to you and your solicitors. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in North London.
I have a 4 bedroom Edwardian property in North London. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Britannia. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching property. Is it worth asking Britannia to clarify?
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be 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 North London and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £305k and found one close by in North London I like with amenity areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in North London for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?
Should you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you can request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.
Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years left on my lease in North London. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering North London.
I am the leaseholder of a a ground floor purpose built flat in North London. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum payable for the purchase of the freehold?
if there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the amount due.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a North 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 affected 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 73.26 years.