Our son-in-law is purchasing a new build apartment in West Kensington with a home loan from Principality. His solicitor has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Principality conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer 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 Principality conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
It is not clear whether my bank requires a lease extension. I have called into my local West Kensington building society branch on various occasions and was told it does not affect the mortgage offer and they will lend. My West Kensington conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- called to say that they will not lend based on their specific requirements. I have no idea who is right.
The solicitor has to follow the CML Handbook section two provisions for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in West Kensington. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor. I paid an upfront payment of £150. A couple of days later, the conveyancer contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Skipton 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 Skipton 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 was told four weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Coventry BS. Is it usual for Coventry BS to only issue the offer once my solicitor in West Kensington is approved on their conveyancing panel? Coventry BS have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Coventry BS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my house can not be found. The lawyers who conducted the conveyancing in West Kensington 4 years ago have long since closed. What are my next steps?
Gone are the days when you need to have the physical deeds to establish that you own the land or premises, as the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.
How does conveyancing in West Kensington differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in West Kensington come to us having been asked by the builder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is constructed. This is because builders in West Kensington typically acquire the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in West Kensington or who has acted in the same development.
I've recently bought a leasehold house in West Kensington. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to purchase the freehold in West Kensington. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a West Kensington conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a West Kensington residence is 93 Oakwood Court in June 2010. the LVT determined that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £492,083, This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 37.79 years.
My son is embarking on her first house purchase, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. When the seller agreed the offer on the flat we called the mortgage institution to progress the mortgage application. We were disappointed to learn that banks do not accept all solicitor, they have to be on a list, is this legal?
Lenders tend to imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any West Kensington solicitor on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Presumably not.