It is 10 years ago since I bought my home in South Kensington. Conveyancing solicitors have recently been appointed on the sale but I am unable to track down my title deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a possibility that the deeds will be kept by the mortgage company or they could stored with the solicitor who acted in the purchase. Secondly the chances are that the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers acquiring up to date copy of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in South Kensington involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
Me and my partner are purchasing a apartment in South Kensington. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a solicitor? On completion day we will need to send money into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our money?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
I can not fathom if my lender obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have telephoned my South Kensington building society branch on numerous occasions and was told it wasn't a problem and they would lend. My South Kensington conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called to say that they will not lend based on their published requirements. Who do I believe?
As long as the solicitor is on the lender panel, they must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook provisions for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
Our offer on a property in South Kensington has been agreed to, but there is a chain. The vendors have placed an offer on on an apartment, however it’s not yet agreed to, and are looking at other flats in the pipeline. I have instructed a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in South Kensington. What should be my next step? At what stage do I apply for the mortgage with UBS?
It is understandable to have anxieties where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket prematurely (mortgage application is approx £1k, then valuation, South Kensington conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you should check that your property lawyer is on the UBS conveyancing panel. Concerning the next phase this very much dictated by the specifics of your case, desire for the property and on the state of the market. During a hot market many home buyers will apply for the mortgage with UBS and arrange for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they pay their conveyancer to proceed with the conveyancing in South Kensington.
My wife and I purchased a semi-detached Victorian house in South Kensington. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Santander. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the matching property. Is it worth asking Santander to clarify?
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for 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 areas of 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 buyers. You can also check the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. South Kensington is where the house is located. Can you offer any opinion?
Flying freeholds in South Kensington are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in South Kensington you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in South Kensington may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in South Kensington. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in South Kensington - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.
Having spent years of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in South Kensington. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Where there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the price.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a South Kensington property is Flat 16 21/22 Stanhope Gardens in November 2010. the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal concluded that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, was £106,975 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 51.93 years.
Why can't I complete my conveyancing in South Kensington on Easter Monday?
This is due to the fact that on completion the funds needs to be transferred electronically between the banks of the buyer and owner’s solicitor and at present this can only occur on a working day. It is not possible to complete on a weekend either.