Much to our surprise we have been informed by our IFA that my South East London lawyer is not on the lender Conveyancing panel. How can I be certain that this is indeed the case?
Your first step should be to call your South East London lawyer directly. You lawyer should advise you of the situation. If they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the approved list of lawyers for your bank.
I am the sole beneficiary of my late mum's will and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in South East London. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in May. I plan to dispose of the property. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership will be treated the same way as though I had purchased the property in May. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The CML handbook mandates conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you might be caught by that. many mortgage companies would take a sensible view as this requirement is chiefly there to capture the purchase and immediately sell or the quick reselling of properties.
We previously appointed conveyancing lawyers located in South East London on the Nationwide solicitor approved list. They are now charging me an additional charge for handling the Nationwide mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Nationwide?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancing practitioner may levy a fee for this. The charge is not set by Nationwide but by your South East London property lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Nationwide panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but many firms incorporate it on their overall fee.
The mortgage over my property is with Santander for my property in South East London. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Santander?
You must advise Santander before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Santander’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Santander directly. You need not do this via a Santander conveyancing panel solicitor.
I am purchasing my first flat in South East London with a mortgage from Lloyds TSB Bank. The developers refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of fixtures and fittings instead. The sale representative told me not disclose to my solicitor about this deal as it could put at risk my mortgage with Lloyds TSB Bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in South East London I like with amenity areas and station in the vicinity, however it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in South East London in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this matter.
My brother has suggested that I instruct his conveyancers in South East London. Should I use them?
There are no two ways about it it’s preferable to choose a conveyancing lawyer is to seek guidance from friends or family who have used the conveyancer that you are contemplating using.
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in South East London. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.
If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in South East London - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
Notwithstanding our best efforts, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in South East London. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to judgment on the sum to be paid.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a South East London residence 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 unexpired term was 73.26 years.