What is the first thing I need to know regarding purchase conveyancing in Surbiton?
Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Surbiton or throughout South West London is an adversarial process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of opportunity for friction between you and others involved in the ownership transfer. For instance, the vendor, property agent and even potentially a mortgage company. Appointing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Surbiton an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE person in the process whose responsibility is to look after your best interests and to protect you.
There is a distinct increase of a "blame" culture- someone must be blamed for the process taking so long. You your first instinct should be to trust your lawyer ahead of the other players in the conveyancing process.
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Santander. Surbiton conveyancing solicitors were instructed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Santander?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Santander completed the survey? Have you informed Santander as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Santander conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
I'm at the point of looking at flats in Surbiton and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I will be getting a home loan with Barclays.
It would be advisable to start your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the estate agent. Given that you are getting a mortgage with Barclays, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Barclays conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
At last I have had an offer on an apartment in Surbiton agreed to, the vendors do nevertheless have a dependent purchase. The owners have offered on a property, however it’s not been accepted yet, and are looking at other flats booked. I have instructed a bricks and mortar conveyancing solicitor in Surbiton. What should be my next step? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with Coventry BS?
It is understandable to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (mortgage application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then valuation, Surbiton conveyancing search charges, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your solicitor is on the Coventry BS approved list. As to the next phase this very much depends on the circumstances of your transaction, attraction to the property and on the state of the market. During a buoyant market some purchasers would apply for a home loan with Coventry BS and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their conveyancer to proceed with the conveyancing in Surbiton.
Various online forums that I have frequented warn that are a common cause of delay in Surbiton conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the top 10 causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Surbiton.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Surbiton?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Surbiton. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Completion is due on the sale of our £200,000 garden flat in Surbiton in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Surbiton?
Surbiton conveyancing on leasehold flats normally requires the buyer’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer such questions most will be content to assist. They are at liberty to invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is above £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is not strictly payable. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.
I am the leaseholder of a garden flat in Surbiton. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?
Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the price.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Surbiton residence is Flat D 15 Claremont Gardens in September 2013. TheTribunal determined in accordance with section48 and Schedule13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease should be fourteen thousand one hundred and eighty seven pounds (£14,187.00) This case related to 1 flat.
We are soon to complete buying a property in Surbiton but as a consequence of wreckage from the recent storms I have agreed recompense from the current proprietors of four thousand pounds by way of a adjustment in the price. I had intended this to be addressed as part of the conveyancing process but the mortgage company will not agree to this. Why were they informed?
Your solicitor being on a bank approved list is duty bound to advise the mortgage company of any changes to the purchase price. If you did not allow your conveyancing practitioner to disclose the reduction to your bank then they would have no choice but to refrain from acting for you and the mortgage company.