About to place a bid on a leasehold property in Notting Hill. The property agents tell me that it is the norm for flats in Notting Hill to have less than 75 years left on the lease. I am taking out a mortgage with Platform. Is this going to be acceptable if the lease has 69 years left.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are securing a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Platform have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 22/5/2023 the requirements read as follows :
I happen to be the sole recipient of my late mum's estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the house in Notting Hill. The Notting Hill property was put into my name in April. I now wish to sell up. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership will be considered the same way as if I'd bought the property in April. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?
The CML handbook instructs conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you might be impacted by that. Most mortgage companies would take a practical view as this requirement is primarily there to identify the purchase and immediately sell or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
Is it correct that all Notting Hill CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Barclays conveyancing list of approved practices?
Some major lenders now make use of the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to remain on their panels.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Notting Hill. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Santander be concerned?
As you are obtaining a mortgage with Santander your lawyer must follow the conveyancing instructions set out in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Santander. The CML Handbook sets out minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Santander where a lease does not satisfy these requirements. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not limited to Notting Hill.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Notting Hill. Conveyancing is daunting 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.
Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Notting Hill
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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. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore.
I'm remortgaging my current property to a buy to let mortgage with Alliance & Leicester and intend to use the remaining equity as a down payment on another house. The location we are interested in is Notting Hill. Will your conveyancers be able to act for the two lenders and link together the two deals?
Make use of our comparison tool on this page to be sure that the conveyancers are on the appropriate lender panels. Having checked that they are the lawyer should be able to simultaneously deal with the two deals but you should talk with you conveyancer and communicate your expectations and needs.
I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Notting Hill. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
In a situation 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. A critical element 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).
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 Notting Hill. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Notting Hill conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Notting Hill property is 2 Grove House 95 Addison Road in October 2013. the Tribunal decided that the premium to bepaid for a new lease is £50,050. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 68.4 years.
My partner and I are buying a studio flat in Notting Hill. At the time of instructing our property lawyer, they assured us that they were on all mainstream bank panels. Our mortgage broker called yesterday to advise that they are not on the Skipton approved list. Should that be true, what should we do? Should we just choose a new conveyancer that is on their approved list or should we pay for separate representation, with Skipton appointing their own preferred conveyancing practitioner.
When acquiring a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the buyer’s lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a lawyer has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the conveyancer to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the conveyancer has to satisfy. Some lenders now require their panel firms to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your lawyer should call Skipton 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 Skipton's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Notting Hill lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another property lawyer into the equation.