My conveyancer has discovered a defect with the lease for the property we are purchasing in Rush Green. The seller’s lawyers have suggested title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our lawyer has advised that he must check that the lender is willing to move forward with this solution. Are we the client or is the lender?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the bank are the client. Your solicitor must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the lender can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your conveyancing practitioner will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
I have been recommended a conveyancing solicitor in Rush Green. I I would like to check if they are accepted on the The Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel. Could you or the lender confirm if they are on the panel?
You should phone the conveyancer and ask them whether they can act for the bank. Otherwise you can get in touch with The Royal Bank of Scotland who may be able to confirm.
I have a renovated Georgian property in Rush Green. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Skipton Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the matching property. Is it worth asking Skipton Building Society to clarify?
You should 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 Rush Green and other locations in 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 lenders. You can also question the position with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
I was advised by a number of selling agents in Rush Green to select a conveyancer using your seach tool. Is there a financial inducement for Estate Agents to market your site ahead of another?
We refuse to make any referral fee for sending work to this site. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission as home movers will think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Rush Green from the perspective of expediting the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Rush Green can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers. Many freeholders or managing agents in Rush Green charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Rush Green. A minority of Rush Green leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers. If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Rush Green home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later. If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
I own a garden flat in Rush Green. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for a lease extension?
Where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Rush Green flat is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 57.5 years.
My partner and I are acquiring a garden flat in Rush Green. At the point of instructing our solicitor, we were told they were on all mainstream lender panels. Our financial adviser called just now to advise that they don't appear to be on the Yorkshire BS approved list. Were it to be true, what should we do? Should we simply pick a new conveyancer that is on their panel or do we cover the costs for separate representation, with Yorkshire BS appointing their own approved conveyancer.
When acquiring a property with mortgage finance it is normal for the purchaser’s solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a property lawyer has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the lawyer to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the lawyer has to meet. Some building societies now require their panel firms to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should call Yorkshire BS to find out if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on Yorkshire BS's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Rush Green solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another property lawyer into the equation.
