We're in St James, FTBs buying with a mortgage (lender is Yorkshire BS , and our solicitor is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancing practitioner should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
Various internet forums that I have come across warn that are the number one cause of stalling in St James conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the most frequent causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in St James.
Me and my brother own a 4 bedroom Victorian property in St James. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Alliance & Leicester . I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. Is it worth asking Alliance & Leicester to clarify?
You need to read 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 St James 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 mortgage companies. You can also check the position with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. St James is where the house is located. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in St James are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in St James you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in St James may decide 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.
Given that I will soon spend over three hundred thousand on a garden flat in St James I wish to have a conversation with the solicitor concerning thehome move in advance of appointing the firm. Can this be arranged?
Absolutely - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the conveyancer due to be carrying out your conveyancing in St James.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is an important person, not a case reference. The law firms that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are provided with for residential conveyancing in St James should be the figure that you end up paying.
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in St James where we see a number of flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local St James conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
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 buyer.
After years of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in St James. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
if there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the amount due.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a St James premises is Flats 12A & 19, Evelyn Mansions Carlisle Place in June 2009. The Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the new lease of Flat 12A is £168,824, For the other flat the price was set at £169,110 This case was in relation to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 56 years.