Our lawyer has uncovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the property we are buying in St Pancras. The other side have put forward defective title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our conveyancing practitioner says that he must ensure that the mortgage company is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is the mortgage company ?
Regardless of the fact that you have a mortgage offer from the mortgage company does not mean to say that the property will meet their requirements for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. You and the bank are the client. These conveyancing instructions have to be complied with.
I had intended to instruct a property lawyer in St Pancras for our home move. Our broker has since notified us that our mortgage company Barclays won't deal with them. Surely this is unduly restrictive?
Lenders in the main imposes restrictions either the type or the volume of conveyancing practices on their member panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a law practice must not be a sole practitioner. In addition to restricting the type of firm, a few lenders have reduced the number of solicitor practices they permit to act for them. You should note that Barclays have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Barclays Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago even though there remains mixed opinions about the extent of solicitor engagement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that hundreds of law firms, including some in or near St Pancras only perform one or two conveyances a year.
We are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our house in St Pancras and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being constructed land that was not decontaminated. Any high street St Pancras conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the purchasers used a web based conveyancing outfit rather than a conveyancing solicitor in St Pancras. We have lived in St Pancras for three years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to seek confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. What do they say? You must check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same sickness)
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In my capacity as executor for the estate of my father I am disposing of a residence in Monmouth but reside in St Pancras. My conveyancer (based 300 miles awayrequires that I sign a statutory declaration before the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing practitioner in St Pancras who can witness this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you should not need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or qualified solicitor will do regardless of whether they are St Pancras based
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in St Pancras where we see a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local St Pancras conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 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 at the same time as completion of the sale.
An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a St Pancras conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?
Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a St Pancras residence is Flat 89 Trinity Court Grays Inn Road in February 2013. the Tribunal found that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 should be £36,229. This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 66.8 years.