I had intended to instruct a property lawyer in St Luke's for our house purchase. Our broker has since advised us that our bank Coventry Building Society won't deal with them. Surely this is unduly restrictive?
A decade ago most banks had a different appetite for risk. Almost all St Luke's conveyancing firms would have been on most lender panels. The financial services regulator in 2010 conducted a thematic review into mortgage fraud which come to the conclusion: mortgage lenders should know the conveyancing solicitors dealt with. Consequently, mortgage companies are increasingly seeing more information from law firms regarding their operations and the individuals who work for them and set certain criteria such a completing on a minimum number of transactions. Many St Luke's conveyancing firms that have been excluded from lender panels have a 100% healthy track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. St Luke's is amongst the numerous areas where the solicitors we list are are authorised to act for Coventry Building Society.
is it true that all St Luke's conveyancing solicitors on the Barclays conveyancing panel are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Barclays conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many banks do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the firms would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
I am selling my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in August 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Nottingham are being a right pain. The St Luke's solicitor who is on the Nottingham conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Nottingham are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Nottingham have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Nottingham have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Nottingham may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
Principality have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a house in St Luke's has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
Your property agent will wish to know who your solicitors are (make sure the conveyancers are on the bank’s panel). Call up Principality or the broker and finalise any outstanding forms. Principality will sellect a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or seller to schedule a slot for the valuation to occur. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a fortnight to receive the mortgage offer. Principality will send the offer to you and your conveyancing practitioners. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in St Luke's.
I moved into my home on 6 July and my personal details are still not registered. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in St Luke's said it will be dealt with inside ten days. Are transfers in St Luke's particularly slow to register?
There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in St Luke's registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can differ according to who lodges the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry need to notify any interested persons or bodies. As of today in the region of 80% of submission are fully dealt with within two weeks but some can be subject to extensive hold-ups. Registration occurs once the new owner is living at the premises thus an expedited registration is not usually an essential issue but if it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your solicitor can communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £245,000 and identified one close by in St Luke's I like with open areas and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 52 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in St Luke's suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a home loan the shortness of the lease may be an issue. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.
I need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor for purchase conveyancing in St Luke's. I've land on a site which looks to be the ideal answer If it is possible to get all this stuff completed via phone that would be ideal. Should I be wary? What are the potential pitfalls?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
All being well we will complete our sale of a £275,000 maisonette in St Luke's in nine days. The management company has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in St Luke's?
St Luke's conveyancing on leasehold apartments often requires the purchaser’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They may levy a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.
We have reached the end of our tether in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in St Luke's. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
if there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to decide the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a St Luke's property is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case affected 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 72.39 years.