Just contacted my conveyancing solicitor in Sydenham who conducted the legals two years ago requesting a conveyancing estimate based on the same type of house sale & purchase (a leasehold premises and a freehold property) of similar values with a loan from Halifax. I am now being charged double. Should I hunt for an alternative property lawyer?
The estimate fees are a little high. If you are content to invest time scrutinising prices you might get the conveyancing a bit cheaper by as much as £100 plus VAT. On the other hand, assuming were satisfied with the service the firm offered you maycome to regret opting for an an untested lawyer. Don't forget to ensure that the firm can also act for Halifax. You can use our search tool to find a Sydenham conveyancing firm on the Halifax approved list of lawyers, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Sydenham.
Me and my wife are buying our first home. The conveyancer has contact usto check if we would like to take out additional conveyancing searches. Frankly we in the dark as to what's needed for conveyancing in Sydenham
The quantity and type of Sydenham conveyancing searches depends entirely on the premises, the location, the probability of any of these risks, your familiarity of the area and risks, your general approach to risk. What matters is that you adequately appreciate what information the searches could supply. You may then make a decision if you personally think you need that information. Should you be uncertain, ask your lawyer to provide guidance.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Sydenham costs more?
Sydenham leasehold conveyancing transactions usually involve additional investigations than freeholds including investigating the Lease, liaising with the Landlord such as serving applicable notices on the Landlord or managing agent, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining Landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts and formation documents.
Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Principality. Sydenham conveyancing practitioners were chosen. How long does it take for Principality to forward the offer to the conveyancing practitioner?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Principality done the survey? Have you informed Principality as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Principality conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Sydenham. My financial adviser suggested a solicitor. I paid an on account payment of £225. Soon after, the conveyancer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Bank of Ireland panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I've digested plenty of house buying guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Sydenham solicitor - who is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Clydesdale will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Clydesdale will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Sydenham surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
Will our conveyancer be asking questions regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Sydenham.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors dealing with homes in Sydenham. There are those who purchase a property in Sydenham, fully aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable building insurance, or sell the premises. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Lawyers are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous checks that may be undertaken by the purchaser or by their lawyers which should figure out the risks in Sydenham. The standard completed inquiry forms given to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) incorporates a standard question of the owner to determine whether the property has historically flooded. If flooding has previously occurred which is not notified by the seller, then a buyer may issue a claim for damages as a result of such an misleading reply. A buyer’s lawyers should also order an enviro report. This should higlight whether there is any known flood risk. If so, further investigations should be carried out.
I own a leasehold house in Sydenham. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Sydenham who previously acted has now retired. Any advice?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Sydenham conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I have had difficulty in trying to purchase the freehold in Sydenham. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to determine the price.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Sydenham residence is Flat 5 4 Border Crescent in December 2013. the tribunal calculated that premium payable for the acquisition of a lease extension of the subject premises was in the sum of £14,900 (Fourteen thousand, nine hundred pounds). Those advising the applicant were advised to send a copy of the decision and a copy of the new lease with the premium (less the applicants costs as assessed by the Court) to the Croydon County Court (under claim number 3CR01226) for an officer of the Court to execute the new lease on behalf of the absentee landlord who is missing and cannot be traced). This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 69 years.