I am refinancing my property in Sidcup, does my lawyer have to be on the Clydesdale Solicitor panel?
There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but Clydesdale will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is much more potential for delays and confusion with two solicitors involved, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.
I have paid off my mortgage with Virgin Money. I assume I don't need a Sidcup lawyer on the Virgin Money panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Virgin Money mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Virgin Money mortgage from the register. Virgin Money, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Virgin Money has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Virgin Money has instructed the Land Registry to do so
About to purchase house in Sidcup. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Sidcup property lawyer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel.
I have instructed a Sidcup solicitor having checked that they are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Co-operative will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Co-operative will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancing practitioner will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Sidcup postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Co-operative, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Sidcup.
It has been four months following my purchase conveyancing in Sidcup concluded. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £180,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
I am buying a new build house in Sidcup with a loan from Nottingham Building Society. The builders refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The property agent advised me not reveal to my conveyancer about the side-deal as it will adversely affect my mortgage with Nottingham Building Society. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
As co-executor for the will of my grandfather I am selling a house in Neath but live in Sidcup. My lawyer (approximately 200 kilometers from meneeds me to sign a stat dec before completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in Sidcup who can attest this legal document for me?
strictly speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Sidcup based
Last October I purchased a leasehold flat in Sidcup. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
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 be sure 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).
Following years of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Sidcup. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Sidcup conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Sidcup premises is 103a Footscray Road in January 2014. The tribunal determines that the premium payable for the extended lease should be £34,500 according to the expert witness valuation calculation This case was in relation to 1 flat.