The Bethnal Green conveyancing firm handling our Bethnal Green conveyancing has spotted a discrepancy between the assumptions in the home valuation report and what is revealed within the legal papers for the property. My solicitor informs me that he is obliged to check that the lender is OK with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my solicitor’s course or action right?
Your solicitor must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
Completed the sale of my flat in Bethnal Green last January yet the purchaser is e-mailing daily to moan that his conveyancer needs to hear from myconveyancer. What are the post completion sale formalities following completion?
After completion of your sale your solicitor should forward the transfer documentation and all supplemental paperwork to the purchaser's conveyancer. Depending on the transaction, your conveyancer must also confirm that the mortgage has been repaid to the buyers lawyers. There is unlikely to be post completion tasks unique to conveyancing in Bethnal Green.
The Bethnal Green conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my purchase in Bethnal Green have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I needed a lawyer on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel and my previous Bethnal Green lawyer was not. I cut them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors 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 will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Yorkshire BS 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.
If you had a top tip for selecting a conveyancing solicitor in Bethnal Green what would it be?
We would encourage you not to go for the lowest Bethnal Green conveyancing fees. You really do get what you’re paying for when it comes to conveyancing solicitors. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in ahead of the deal.
We previously selected solicitors located in Bethnal Green on the Bank of Ireland solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a supplemental amount for the legal aspects of the Bank of Ireland mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Bank of Ireland?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your lawyer can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Bank of Ireland but by your Bethnal Green solicitor. Plenty of firms on the Bank of Ireland panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
I have paid off my mortgage with RBS. I assume I don't need a Bethnal Green solicitor on the RBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your RBS 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 RBS mortgage from the register. RBS, 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 RBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- RBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
My colleague advised me that where I am purchasing in Bethnal Green I should ask my conveyancer to 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 usually included in the estimate for your Bethnal Green conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Bethnal Green around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Bethnal Green Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Bethnal Green.
I would like to sublet my leasehold apartment in Bethnal Green. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?
A small minority of properties in Bethnal Green do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such issues? Can you recommend a Bethnal Green conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?
Where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the price.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Bethnal Green property is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 72.39 years.