This question may be naive but I am new to the house moving as a first time purchaser of a garden flat in St Luke's. Do I receive the keys to the premises on completion from my lawyer? If so, I will find a High Street conveyancing solicitor in St Luke's?
On the day of completion you do not need to attend the conveyancers office in St Luke's. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the completion advance to the vendor’s lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be invited to receive the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in St Luke's. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I would like to complain about the lender. How do I make a complaint?
Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.
I am due to exchange contracts on my house. I had a double glazing fitted in December 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, Lloyds are being difficult. The St Luke's solicitor who is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Lloyds are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Lloyds have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Lloyds have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Lloyds 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.
I purchased a semi-detached Georgian house in St Luke's. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Lloyds TSB Bank. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. Is it worth asking Lloyds TSB Bank to clarify?
You should review 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 Luke's 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 the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
Am I right to be wary about brokers that I am dealing with are recommending a web based conveyancing firm rather than a High Street St Luke's conveyancing company?
As with many professional services, often recommendations from connections can be extremely useful or valuable. Nevertheless there are many players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and lenders might all suggest conveyancers to choose. Sometimes these conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but occasionally there behind the scenes financial incentive behind the endorsement. You are at liberty to choose your preferred lawyer. You need to be aware that most lenders specify a panel list of law firms you are obliged to use for the lender related work in your conveyancing.
My husband and I are 17 days into a leasehold purchase having been referred to conveyancers by the selling agent to perform conveyancing in St Luke's. I am not happy. Could you help me find new lawyers?
A solicitor would have to be very poor in order to consider changing them. Has your mortgage been issued? If so you will need to make them aware of the replacement lawyer and ensure the offer are re-issued. Your solicitor ideally should be on the banks approved list to avoid supplemental charges and complications. So that should be your starting point. The find a solicitor tool can assist you in finding a lender approved lawyer for your conveyancing in St Luke's
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.
If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in St Luke's - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such matters? Can you recommend a St Luke's conveyancing firm to help?
Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a St Luke's conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a St Luke's premises 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 was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 72.39 years.
New build sellers have suggested I use a solicitor and I've obtained a quote from them. It's almost £300 cheaper than my own St Luke's conveyancer. What's the catch?
Builders normally have lists of solicitors who are quick and who know the developer’s paperwork and conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of developers offer an incentive to use their approved property lawyer for this reason, any increased cost can be avoided and a builder won't put forward a conveyancing factory and run the risk of having the transaction stall when they want exchange within a tight time frame. A counter-argument for not opting for the suggested conveyancing practitioner is that they may prove unwilling to fight for your interests for fear of alienating the sellers. Where you have concerns that this may be the situation you should remain with your local St Luke's property lawyer.
