We are due to complete on the purchase of a house in Beddington South but as a result of damage from the recent storms I have managed to agree recompense from the owner in the sum of £2k taking the form of a deduction in the price. I had intended this to be dealt with as part of amending the contract however Kent Reliance will not agree to this. Should they have been approached?
The lawyer that is on a Kent Reliance conveyancing panel is required to inform Kent Reliance of any changes to the purchase price. If you prohibit your solicitor to notify the reduction to Kent Reliance then they would have to discontinue acting for you. In addition, Kent Reliance and you would have to appoint a new conveyancer for your conveyancing in Beddington South.
We had instructed conveyancing lawyers based in Beddington South on the HSBC solicitor panel. They are now charging me a further fee for handling the HSBC mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by HSBC?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your property lawyer is entitled to charge a fee for this. The fee is not set by HSBC but by your Beddington South conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the HSBC panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
My wife and I have arranged a further advance on our home loan from Virgin Money as we want to conduct renovations to our house in Beddington South. Do we need to choose a local Beddington South solicitor on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?
Virgin Money do not ordinarily instruct a member of their approved list of lawyers to deal with the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel.
Virgin Money have agreed my mortgage in principle, my bid on a house in Beddington South has been agreed to, what happens next?
Your property agent will need to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the conveyancers are on the bank’s approved list). Contact Virgin Money or your broker and finish off any appropriate paperwork. Virgin Money will instruct a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or owners to arrange an appointment. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a week for the mortgage offer to be issued. Virgin Money will send the offer to you and your solicitors. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Beddington South.
My wife and I own a renovated Victorian house in Beddington South. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Aldermore. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to 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 Beddington South and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Beddington South is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Beddington South are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Beddington South you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Beddington South may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
Last April I purchased a leasehold property in Beddington South. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, 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).
I inherited a ground floor flat in Beddington South. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?
Where there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, 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 assess the price.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Beddington South flat is 29 Woodstock Road in April 2014. the Tribunal determined that the premiums to be paid into court in respect of the purchase of the freehold registered at HMLR under Title N0.SY3997 should be £7,217. This case was in relation to 4 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 98 years.
How up-to-date is your search tool for the mortgage company conveyancing panel in Beddington South? Do the lenders send you an updated list?
Beddington South firms and firms conducting conveyancing in Beddington South themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the lender conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from the bank directly.