Having sold my house in Westminster last May but our buyer keeps texting me complaining that her solicitor is waiting to hear from mine. What should my lawyer have done following completion?
Post completion of your house sale your conveyancer should send the transfer documentation and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s conveyancer. Depending on the transaction, your conveyancer should also evidence that the home loan has been redeemed to the buyers lawyers. There are no post completion formalities peculiar conveyancing in Westminster.
Can I be sure that the Westminster conveyancing solicitor on the Principality panel is any good?
When it comes to conveyancing in Westminster getting recommendations is a good starting point. Before you go ahead, check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also, you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more, will often provide a better service than one advertising the lowest fees. We would always suggest that you speak with the solicitor handling your transaction.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Nationwide. I assume I don't need a Westminster conveyancing practitioner on the Nationwide panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Nationwide mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Nationwide mortgage from the register. Nationwide, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Nationwide has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Nationwide has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I have instructed a Westminster lawyer having made sure that they are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Co-operative will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Co-operative 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 Westminster 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.
I require expedited conveyancing in Westminster as I am faced with a deadline to exchange contracts inside 4 weeks. Fortunately I do not require a mortgage. Can I escape the need for conveyancing searches to save money and time?
As you are not getting a home loan you are at free not to have searches carried out although no conveyancer would suggest that you don't. Drawing on our experience of conveyancing in Westminster the following are instances of issues that can show up and therefore impact future saleability: Refused Planning Applications, Overdue Fees, Outstanding Grants, Unadopted Roads,...
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified as part of conveyancing in Westminster?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Westminster. 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…’
Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Westminster from the point of view of expediting the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Westminster can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers. Some Westminster leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved. If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a Westminster conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
Having spent months of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Westminster. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Westminster conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Westminster property is Flats 12A & 19, Evelyn Mansions Carlisle Place in June 2009. The Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the new lease of Flat 12A is £168,824, For the other flat the price was set at £169,110 This case related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 56 years.
I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Westminster.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have recently received a yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?
It best that you discharge the service charge as normal as all ground rent and service payments will be allottedon completion, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process