The West Ham conveyancing firm that just started acting on my purchase in West Ham have suddenly shut down. I chose them because I had to have a lawyer on the Skipton conveyancing panel and my family West Ham lawyer was not. I paid them money on account. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Skipton conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to assist.
I am assisting my step-mother sell her flat in West Ham. Will the conveyancer arrange the energy performance certificate or it is for the owner to see to?
Following the demise of Home Packs, EPC’s was retained a required component of selling a house. An EPC should be commissioned prior to the property being put on the market. This is not something that solicitors ordinarily arrange. If you are using a West Ham conveyancing lawyer they may help arrange energy performance certificates given their contacts with long established West Ham accredited person
We have agreed to purchase a house in West Ham. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Lloyds have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
Given that your lender is Lloyds your lawyer must follow the conveyancing instructions contained in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Lloyds. The CML Handbook includes minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancers are required to report to Lloyds where a lease does not satisfy these provisions. The conditions relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not isolated to West Ham.
Santander have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a flat in West Ham has been agreed to, what happens next?
Your estate agent will need to be informed of your lawyer's details (be sure the conveyancing practitioners are on the bank’s approved list). Call up Santander or the financial adviser and complete any relevant forms. Santander will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or vendor to arrange a slot for the valuation to happen. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes on average a week to get a mortgage offer. Santander will send the offer to you and your property lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in West Ham.
A colleague recommended that where I am purchasing in West Ham 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 sometimes included in the estimate for your West Ham conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about West Ham around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, West Ham Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning West Ham.
I own a renovated Edwardian house in West Ham. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Lloyds TSB Bank. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the matching property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in West Ham and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing solicitor who carried out the work.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in West Ham. Conveyancing is daunting 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.
Set out below are examples of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in West Ham
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Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants.
Taking into account that I am about to spend £400,000 on a two bedroom apartment in West Ham I would like to have a conversation with the lawyer concerning thehouse move before giving the go ahead to the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
This is something that we encourage - we would be delighted to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the lawyer who will be carrying out your conveyancing in West Ham.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is an important individual, not a case number. The law firms that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are quoted for residential conveyancing in West Ham should be the figure that you end up paying.