I am the registered owner of a freehold premises in South London but still pay rent, why is this and what is this?
It’s unusual for properties in South London and has limited impact for conveyancing in South London but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back hundreds of years, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the establishment of new rentcharges post 1977.
Old rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence after 2037 is to be dispensed with completely.
Do I have to have a meeting at the offices of the solicitor to sign the mortgage deed? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in South London so that I can attend their offices if required.
Nowadays conveyancing panel lawyers for lenders undertake all of the work through the post, e-mail or over phone calls. This means that they can undertake the legal work for your home move no matter where you live in England or Wales. That being said you can check if you can still book an appointment to visit conveyancing lawyer if just in case this is required.
Is it correct that all South London CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Clydesdale conveyancing list of approved practices?
A selection of banks and building societies now utilise the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to join their panels.
When it comes to lenders such as RBS, do South London lawyers face a yearly amount to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
My sealed bid on a semi in South London has been agreed to, the owners do nevertheless have an associated purchase. The owners have put an offer on somewhere, but it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other flats booked. I have selected a nearby conveyancing solicitor in South London. What do I do now? When do I get the mortgage application with Yorkshire BS started?
It is usual to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses prematurely (mortgage application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, South London conveyancing search costs, etc). The first course of action is to check that your property lawyer is on the Yorkshire BS approved list. Regarding the next phase this very much depends on the circumstances of your transaction, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market some home buyers will apply for the mortgage with Yorkshire BS and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they request their lawyer to proceed with the conveyancing in South London.
I purchased a semi-detached Edwardian property in South London. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Platform Home Loans Ltd. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should 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 owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in South London and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who carried out the work.
Am I better off to instruct a South London conveyancing lawyer based in the location that I am purchasing? I have an old university friend who can perform the legal formalities but his firm is located 200kilometers away.
The primary upside of using a local South London conveyancing firm is that you can attend the office to sign documents, present your identification documents and pester them where appropriate. Having local South London know how is a benefit. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who instructed your friend and in the main were happy that should trump using an unknown South London conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being based in the area.
A licensed conveyancer acted on my conveyancing in South London seven years ago and was holding my deeds but has since been shut down – What can I do to retreive them?
Deeds, as such, are no longer appropriate for most homes in South London are registered digitally at Land Registry. If you need to show evidence of proprietorship or are disposing of or refinancing your lawyer should obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.
If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned as quickly as possible.