Forgive me if this question is silly but I am wet behind the ears as FTB of a ground floor flat in Brentford. Do I receive the keys to the property on completion from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will use a local conveyancing solicitor in Brentford?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the completion advance to the vendor’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you will be able to pick up the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.
I am buying a terrace house in Brentford. Our aim is to carry out an extension to the side at the house.Will the conveyancing process involve enquiries to ascertain if these alterations are allowed?
Your property lawyer should check the registered title as conveyancing in Brentford can occasionally identify restrictions in the title documents which prohibit categories of changes or require the consent of a 3rd party. Many extensions call for local authority planning permissions and approval in compliance with building regulations. Some locations are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. It would be prudent to check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
I currently have a mortgage with Nationwide for my property in Brentford. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Nationwide?
Nationwide must be informed of your intention prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nationwide’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Nationwide will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Nationwide directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Nationwide conveyancing panel solicitor.
I am selling our home in Brentford and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. A high street Brentford lawyer would know that there is no such problem. For the life of me I don't know why the buyers are using a web based conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Brentford. Having lived in Brentford for three years we know of no issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to seek confirmation that there is no issue.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing solicitor currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same sickness)
I'm buying my first flat in Brentford with a loan from Bank of Scotland. The developers would not budge the amount so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The property agent advised me not to tell my solicitor about this deal as it will jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I have been recommended by a few selling agents in Brentford to select a property lawyer on your site. Is there a financial advantage for Estate Agents to market your lawyers over and above alternative conveyancing organisations?
We don’t make any commission for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as home movers will think, ‘How come the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
In my capacity as executor for the estate of my uncle I am disposing of a residence in Swansea but reside in Brentford. My conveyancer (based 260 kilometers awayhas requested that I sign a statutory declaration ahead of the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing solicitor in Brentford to witness this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are Brentford based
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Brentford with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Brentford can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives. Some Brentford leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors. If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Brentford state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you dont have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first. If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
After years of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Brentford. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to judgment on the price payable.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Brentford premises is 105 & 105A Seaford Road in July 2013. The tribunal determined that the price payable for the freehold interest in the Property was £43,985 . This sum was to be paid into Brentford County Court to enable the matter to proceed This case was in relation to 2 flats.