Our nephew is about to exchange on a house that has just been built in West Brompton with a home loan from RBS. His conveyancer has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the RBS conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the RBS conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
Completed the sale of my flat in West Brompton last February but the buyer keeps Skype messaging daily to say his conveyancer is waiting to hear from myconveyancer. What are the post completion sale formalities now that I have sold?
Post completion of your house sale your conveyancer is committed to forward the transfer deeds and all additional paperwork to the buyer’s conveyancer. If applicable, your lawyer must also confirm that the home loan has been discharged to the purchasers solicitors. There are no post completion formalities unique to conveyancing in West Brompton.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in West Brompton?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in West Brompton. 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…’
My husband and I are new on the property ladder - agreed a price, but the estate agent advised that the seller will only go ahead if we instruct the agent's chosen lawyers as they want a ‘quick sale’. My instinct tells me that we should use a family solicitor who is familiar with conveyancing in West Brompton
It is improbable the owners are behind this. If they want ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a serious purchaser is likely to cause more damage than good. Try to communicate with the vendors directly and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to go, with finances arranged © you do not need to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you will continue to use your own,trusted West Brompton conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will earn the negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or meet his conveyancing figures set by corporate headquarters.
I am employed by a long established estate agent office in West Brompton where we see a number of flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local West Brompton conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible 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.
After months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in West Brompton. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the premium.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a West Brompton residence is 5 Wetherby Gardens in June 2014. the Tribunal concluded that the price to be paid for the freehold of the property was £2,369,452. This case related to 5 flats. The unexpired lease term was 38.98 years.
Is there a reason that West Brompton conveyancing fees are more expensive for leasehold and freehold properties?
Leasehold conveyancing in West Brompton can involve additional work including investigating the lease, communicating with the landlord, obtaining up to date rent receipts, landlord’s consents, management company’s accounts etc.