I am in the process of selling my apartment in Seven Kings and the EA has just telephoned to advise that the purchasers are swapping property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major mortgage company only deal with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Seven Kings ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.
Lenders attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
My house in Seven Kings is up for sale and I have a buyer. Does my property lawyer need to be required to be on the Santander conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Santander conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their conditions fairly frequently in recent years.
I am assisting my sister sell her property in Seven Kings. Will the conveyancing solicitor order the energy performance certificate or it is for the owner to see to?
After the demise of HIPs, energy assessments became a required element of selling a property. An EPC must be to hand before the property is marketed. This is not something that solicitors normally arrange. Where you are instructing a Seven Kings conveyancing solicitor they might be willing to arrange energy assessments due to their relationships with reputable local accredited person
We had selected solicitors with offices in Seven Kings on the Bank of Ireland solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional sum for the legal aspects of the Bank of Ireland mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Bank of Ireland?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancing practitioner may levy a fee for this. The charge is not dictated by Bank of Ireland but by your Seven Kings lawyer. Some firms on the Bank of Ireland panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee but some firms include it on their overall fee.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Seven Kings. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender TSB be concerned?
Given that your lender is TSB your lawyer must check the formal instructions contained in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for TSB. The CML Handbook stipulates minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to TSB where a lease does not satisfy these provisions. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties nationwide and is not limited to Seven Kings.
We are buying a property and the conveyancer has identified Chancel Repair for which the property could be obligated to contribute to given it’s proximity to the area of such a church. He has suggested insurance. Is this really necessary for conveyancing in Seven Kings
Unless a prior purchase of the property completed post 12 October 2013 you can assume that solicitors delivering conveyancing in Seven Kings to continue to suggest a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our home are lost. The solicitors who dealt with the conveyancing in Seven Kings 5 years ago no longer exist. What do I do?
Nowadays there are duplicates made of almost everything, and your conveyancer will know exactly where to find all the suitable paperwork so you can buy or sell your house without any difficulty. Where duplicates can’t be found, your lawyer can put in place insurance or indemnities protecting you against future claims on your premises.
If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £175,000 flat in Seven Kings next Monday. The management company has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Seven Kings?
For the majority of leasehold sales in Seven Kings conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :
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Answering pre-exchange enquiries
Where consent is required before sale in Seven Kings
Copies of the building insurance and schedule
Deeds of covenant upon sale
Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
I am the registered owner of a first flat in Seven Kings. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for a lease extension?
in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if 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 arrive at the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Seven Kings residence is 49 Aldborough Road South in July 2012. The Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of the new lease was £13,925 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 61.36 years.