My fiance and I are planning to purchase a property in Southgate and are in fact using a Southgate conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Leeds Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Southgate lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 Accreditation 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Southgate lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We are buying a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in Southgate who is on the Aldermore solicitor panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a conveyancing firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Aldermore . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Southgate.
I am thinking of refinancing my apartment in Southgate, does my lawyer have to be on the Bank of Ireland Solicitor panel?
There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but Bank of Ireland will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is much more potential for delays and confusion with an additional lawyer added to the mix, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.
Have purchased a a detached house in Southgate , how long should it take for the Land Registry to register the transfer to my name? My Southgate conveyancing solicitor works at snail pace, so I want to be certain the registration is dealt with.
There is nothing unique about conveyancing in Southgate registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can vary subject to the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry must send notices to any third persons or bodies. Currently in the region of three quarters of such applications are fully dealt with within two weeks but occasionally there can be extensive hold-ups. Registration is effected once the new owner is living at the property so 'speed' is not always top priority yet if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor could speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.
I work for a busy estate agent office in Southgate where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Southgate conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.
I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Southgate. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Southgate conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Southgate property is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case affected 2 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 70.31 years.
I own a leasehold flat in Southgate. Conveyancing was finished in 2010. I have been told that I should not let the the remaining lease term to get too low. What is the reasoning?
Southgate domestic long term leases are for a fixed term - usually 99 years when they are first granted. However a significant appartments in Southgate were constructed or converted in the 60’s and so such leases now have fewer than 80 years left to run. That may sound like a long time however Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage lenders on the whole need leases to have a minimum of seventy five years left to adequate security. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need to extend the term of your lease if you are getting close to eighty years. To enhance your property value you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease well in advance of selling the property. There are also significant benefits to doing so before the lease reaches even 80 years as when the lease is below 80 years the premium to be paid to extend starts to escalate.