Me and my partner are purchasing a 2 bedroom apartment in Bexleyheath with a mortgage. We have a Bexleyheath lawyer, however the mortgage company says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel solicitors or continue with our Bexleyheath conveyancer as well as pay for one of their panel lawyers to represent them. This feels very unfair; can we not insist that the mortgage company use our Bexleyheath lawyer ?
No, not really. 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 Bexleyheath conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
My grandson is about to exchange on a newly built flat in Bexleyheath with a mortgage from Lloyds. His conveyancer has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?
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 Lloyds 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 Lloyds conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
Is there a reason why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Bexleyheath costs more?
The conveyancing charges for a leasehold property in Bexleyheath is inevitably higher as compared to a freehold acquisition or disposal. This is because there is an amount of additional work required in corresponding with the landlord and management company to collate the information about whether the rent and service charges have been cleared and whether there are any large sums expected to be spent in the foreseeable future on repairs or maintenance of the block.
When it comes to lenders such as Virgin Money, do Bexleyheath solicitors face a yearly amount to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
We have agreed to purchase a house in Bexleyheath. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Virgin Money have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
As your lender is Virgin Money your lawyer must check the conveyancing requirements outlined in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Virgin Money. The CML Handbook includes minimum specifications for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancers are required to report to Virgin Money where a lease does not satisfy these specifications. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not limited to Bexleyheath.
I have paid off my mortgage with Kent Reliance. I assume I don't need a Bexleyheath lawyer on the Kent Reliance panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance mortgage from the register. Kent Reliance, 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 Kent Reliance has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Kent Reliance has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Back In 2005, I bought a leasehold house in Bexleyheath. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Bexleyheath who acted for me is not around. What should I do?
First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Bexleyheath conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such matters? Can you recommend a Bexleyheath conveyancing firm to represent me?
in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Bexleyheath residence is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case affected 13 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76 years.
My folks cant seem to find their Bexleyheath property on the HMLR site. They have a vague memory fifty years ago when they purchased the property there were complications regarding Bexleyheath not being identified on some systems.
Nearly all residences in Bexleyheath should be revealed. Have you tried a search to simply the postcode. Normally it should identify all the houses and flats inside the postcode. Where registered it will show up with a title number. If they bought fifty years ago it's conceivable it may be not yet registered. The property could still be revealed but with the title number shown 'na'. In this scenario you will need to locate the original title documentation which may be with your parent’s lender.