My husband and I are intending to acquire a 1 bedroom apartment in Whyteleafe with a mortgage. We have a Whyteleafe solicitor, but the lender advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel solicitors or keep our Whyteleafe lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel firms to act for them. We regard this is unjust; can we not insist that the lender use our Whyteleafe solicitor ?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Whyteleafe conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
Why do I have to pay up front for conveyancing in Whyteleafe?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Whyteleafe your lawyer will ask you place them with funds to cover the search fees. Generally this is asked for to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. If any deposit is payable against the total price then this will be asked for shortly prior to contracts are exchanged. The final balance that is needed will be payable a couple of days prior to the completion date.
My Conveyancer in Whyteleafe is not on the Leeds Building Society Conveyancing Panel. Can I still continue with my family solicitor even though they are not on the Leeds Building Society panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your preferred Whyteleafe solicitors but Leeds Building Society will need to instruct a conveyancer on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the overall conveyancing charges as well as result in delays.
- Choose an alternative practitioner to to deal with the conveyancing, not forgetting to check they are Leeds Building Society approved.
- Try to convince your Leeds Building Society solicitor to attempt to join the Leeds Building Society panel
My relative recommended that where I am buying in Whyteleafe I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Whyteleafe conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Whyteleafe around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Whyteleafe Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Whyteleafe Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Whyteleafe.
I opted to have a survey completed on a property in Whyteleafe prior to appointing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. The surveyor has said that some lenders tend refuse to grant a loan on such a premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different instructions for example to Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Whyteleafe. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I own a leasehold flat in Whyteleafe. Conveyancing and Britannia mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Whyteleafe who previously acted has long since retired. Any advice?
First contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Whyteleafe conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
Having spent years of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Whyteleafe. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
if there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the price payable.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Whyteleafe property is 223 Brighton Road in September 2013. The premium payable for the acquisition freehold of the properties should be £10,934 (Ten thousand,nine hundred and thirty four pounds) This case related to 3 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 75 years.