We are buying a 3 bedroom apartment in Stoke Newington with a mortgage. We have a Stoke Newington conveyancer, but the mortgage company says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the bank panel solicitors or continue with our Stoke Newington property lawyer and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We regard this is unjust; can we not insist that the lender use our Stoke Newington lawyer ?
No, not really. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Stoke Newington conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
As a novice what is the most important advice you can impart regarding purchase conveyancing in Stoke Newington?
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Stoke Newington and elsewhere in London is an adversarial experience. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of opportunity for confrontation between you and others involved in the house moving process. For example, the vendor, property agent and sometimes a mortgage company. Appointing a lawyer for your conveyancing in Stoke Newington is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the transaction whose interest is to act in your best interests and to protect you.
There is a definite ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be blamed for the process being so protracted. We recommend that you your first instinct should be to trust your solicitor above all other parties when it comes to the legal assignment of property.
I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Stoke Newington. My lender is Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 26/3/2024, the requirements read as follows :
We had chosen conveyancers with offices in Stoke Newington on the Barclays solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me an additional charge for handling the Barclays mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Barclays?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitor may levy a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Barclays but by your Stoke Newington lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Barclays panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
I have paid off my mortgage with Aldermore. I assume I don't need a Stoke Newington property lawyer on the Aldermore panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Aldermore mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Aldermore mortgage from the register. Aldermore, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Aldermore has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Aldermore has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Virgin Money have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a house in Stoke Newington has been agreed to, what happens next?
The property agent will need to be advised as to your property lawyer's details (be sure the conveyancing practitioners are on the lender’s approved list). Call up Virgin Money or the broker and complete any outstanding paperwork. Virgin Money will instruct a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or seller to arrange an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes on average ten days to receive the mortgage offer. Virgin Money will send the offer to you and your solicitors. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Stoke Newington.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in Stoke Newington. 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 is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Stoke Newington
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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. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company?
I am looking at a couple of apartments in Stoke Newington which have in the region of 50 years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Stoke Newington is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. For most buyers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Stoke Newington conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without any joy. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Stoke Newington conveyancing firm to represent me?
Where there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the price.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Stoke Newington residence is Lower Flat 16A Beatty Road in September 2012. The premium payable was £13,577. The terms of the lease has been agreed between the Applicants and the First Respondent and the Tribunal did not seek to disturb that agreement. This case related to 1 flat.