Our lawyer has uncovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the property we are buying in Bickley. The seller’s lawyers have put forward defective title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our solicitor says that he must ensure that the bank is content with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?
Regardless of the fact that you have a mortgage offer from the mortgage company does not mean to say that the property will meet their conditions for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. You and the lender are the client. The appropriate lender requirements have to be complied with.
Do lawyers ask for an advanced payment for my conveyancing in Bickley?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Bickley your lawyer will request that you put them with funds to cover the search fees. This will be the total of the cost of the Local Authority Search. When the deposit is as part of the total price then this will be asked for immediately prior to contracts are exchanged. The final balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer a couple of days ahead of the day of completion.
I had intended to instruct a property lawyer in Bickley for our house move. Our broker has since notified us that our bank Accord Mortgages Ltd won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unfair competition?
Before the recession most mortgage companies had an appetite for risk which was higher than today. Almost all Bickley conveyancing firms would have been on most mortgage company panels. The Financial Services Authority in 2010 carried out a thematic review into mortgage fraud which come to the conclusion: mortgage lenders should know the conveyancing solicitors dealt with. Consequently, lenders are increasingly seeing more data from law firms relating to their operations and the individuals who work for them and establishing certain criteria such a completing on a minimum amount of conveyancing. Many Bickley conveyancing firms that have been excluded from lender panels have Unblemished track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Bickley is amongst the many areas where the lawyers we recommend are on the panel for Accord Mortgages Ltd.
My colleague recommended that if I am purchasing in Bickley I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally included in the estimate for your Bickley conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Bickley around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Bickley.
I acquired my home on 9 August and the transaction details is yet to be registered. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in Bickley expressed confidence that it would be registered in a couple of weeks. Are transfers in Bickley uniquely lengthy to register?
There is nothing unique when it comes to conveyancing in Bickley registration formalities. Rather than based on location, timescales can vary depending on who lodges the application, whether it is in order and if the Land registry must send notices to any 3rd persons or bodies. At present approximately 80% of submission are fully dealt with within 12 days but some can be subject to longer delays. Historically registration occurs once the purchaser has moved in to the property therefore an expedited registration is not always top priority but where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your solicitor could communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Bickley with the aim of speeding up the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bickley can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ lawyers. If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing. If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Bickley leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such works. Should you dont have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in advance. If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a Bickley conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later. You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such issues? Can you recommend a Bickley conveyancing firm to help?
Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Bickley flat is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case related to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 50.57 years.