My wife and I are planning to purchase a flat in Stanmore and are in fact using a Stanmore conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Platform Home Loans Ltd have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Stanmore solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property requiring 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Stanmore solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
It is is a decade since I acquired my property in Stanmore. Conveyancing solicitors have just been instructed on the sale but I can't find my title documents. Is this a major issue?
You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be kept by the lender or they could still be with the solicitor who acted in your purchase. Secondly the chances are that the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Stanmore relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is resolvable.
A colleague suggested that where I am buying in Stanmore I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally included in the estimate for your Stanmore conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Stanmore around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Stanmore Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Stanmore Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Stanmore.
I am buying a new build flat in Stanmore. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Here are examples of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Stanmore
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Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Please supply a car parking plan. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared.
In my capacity as executor for the estate of my aunt I am selling a property in Newport but I am based in Stanmore. My conveyancer (based 235 miles awayhas requested that I execute a stat dec before completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing practitioner in Stanmore to witness and place their company stamp on the document?
strictly speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or qualified solicitor will do regardless of whether they are based in Stanmore
What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Stanmore conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?
If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Stanmore conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Stanmore conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions might be of use:
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How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation? If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a Stanmore conveyancing firm to assist?
Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Stanmore conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Stanmore premises is 27B Hillside in February 2010. the resulting premium, all other aspects of the valuation having been agreed between the parties was set at £8,250 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 70.25 years.