The mortgage offer from NatWest for the refinancing of my 4 bedroom garden flat is to be issued by the end of next week. Could you suggest a low cost conveyancing law firm in South Kensington?
You are on the wrong site if you are in need of cut-price fees for conveyancing solicitors in South Kensington. We can offer you cost effective conveyancing but our intention is not to advertise as being the cheapest. Do not be swayed by organisations offering the bait of £100 conveyancing in South Kensington. In your best case scenario, in choosing a lawyer for cheap conveyancing, you will get your money’s worth and at worst you will end up paying a lot in additional fees and still not end up with the service you were looking for.
Is it the case that all South Kensington solicitors on the Aldermore conveyancing panel are overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Some mortgage companies do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the organisation would be governed by the CLC.
The mortgage over my property is with Skipton for my property in South Kensington. 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 buy-to-let mortgage or inform Skipton?
Your original mortgage agreement with Skipton will provide that you need their approval prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Skipton’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 Skipton directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Skipton conveyancing panel firm.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in South Kensington. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an on account payment of £200. A few days later, the lawyer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Principality conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Principality panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Will our conveyancer be raising questions regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in South Kensington.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors dealing with homes in South Kensington. There are those who purchase a house in South Kensington, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable building insurance, or dispose of the property. Steps can be carried out during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Conveyancers are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, however there are a number of searches that may be undertaken by the purchaser or by their conveyancers which will figure out the risks in South Kensington. The conventional set of information sent to a buyer’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a usual question of the owner to discover if the property has historically flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred and is not revealed by the owner, then a purchaser could issue a compensation claim as a result of such an inaccurate response. A buyer’s solicitors may also commission an enviro search. This should indicate if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further inquiries should be carried out.
I own a renovated Edwardian house in South Kensington. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and HSBC Bank. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. Is it worth asking HSBC Bank to clarify?
You need to assess 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in South Kensington 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 mortgage companies. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.
How does conveyancing in South Kensington differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in South Kensington come to us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is constructed. This is because new home sellers in South Kensington usually purchase the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in South Kensington or who has acted in the same development.
I have been pointed in your direction by a number of estate agents in South Kensington to choose a conveyancer using your seach tool. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to market your lawyers over and above alternative conveyancing organisations?
We don’t make any commission for directing people in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.