My wife and I are hoping to acquire a property in Southgate and are in fact using a Southgate conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Barclays have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Southgate lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Southgate solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We are due to complete buying a house in Southgate but as a consequence of wreckage from the recent storms I have was able negotiate reparation from the seller of £3k in the form of a deduction in the price. I had intended this to be dealt with as part of amending the contract however Barclays will not agree to this. Why were they approached?
Any conveyancing practitioner that is on the Barclays conveyancing panel is required to advise Barclays of any changes to the sale price. If you were to refuse your lawyer to disclose the reduction to Barclays then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Barclays and you would have to appoint a new conveyancing practitioner for your conveyancing in Southgate.
I just bought a property at auction in Southgate. Conveyancing is required. What happens now?
Given that you have now exchanged you should choose a conveyancing solicitor quickly as you now have a fast approaching a fixed date to complete the purchase. Every auction property will have a bespoke auction set of papers. This will likely include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. In the case of leasehold property the legal papers may provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork relating to leasehold premises. You must hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
This question may be naive but I am new to the house moving as FTB of a ground floor flat in Southgate. Do I pick up the keys to the house on the completion date from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will find a local conveyancing solicitor in Southgate?
On the day of completion you do not need to attend the conveyancers office in Southgate. Your solicitors will transfer the completion advance to the owner’s solicitors, and once they have received this, you should be called to receive the keys from the Estate Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.
Are all Southgate Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Skipton conveyancing panel?
It is true that some lenders now use CQS as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.
I am looking for a flat up to £305k and identified one close by in Southgate I like with amenity areas and railway links in the vicinity, however it's only got 61 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Southgate for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you require a mortgage that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
Should I go with a Southgate conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am purchasing? I have an old university friend who can handle the conveyancing however they are based a couple of hundredmiles away.
The primary upside of using a high street Southgate conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to sign documents, deliver your ID and pester them if necessary. They will also have local knowledge which is a bonus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have instructed your friend and the majority were impressed that should surpass using an unknown Southgate conveyancing solicitor just because they are Southgate based.
I only have Fifty years left on my flat in Southgate. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?
If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Southgate.
I own a a ground floor purpose built flat in Southgate. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for a lease extension?
Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the amount due.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Southgate flat is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 70.31 years.