My fiance and I are looking to acquire a home in Chinatown and have appointed a Chinatown conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Santander have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Chinatown lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Chinatown lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
We see that you have a post code search directory identifying solicitors on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I retain them for our own conveyancing in Chinatown?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Chinatown.
My friend recommended that where I am purchasing in Chinatown I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Chinatown conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Chinatown around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Chinatown Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Chinatown.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Chinatown?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Chinatown. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Chinatown ahead of appointing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor has said that some lenders may refuse to issue a mortgage on this type of house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to telephone us we can investigate further with the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Chinatown. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
Due to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Chinatown. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Chinatown should include some of the following:
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You should have a good understanding of the building insurance provisions What you can do if a neighbour breaches a clause of their lease? Information as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - in relation to the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder enjoys Are pets allowed in the flat? Ground rent - what is payable and when is collected, and also know whether this will change in the future
Having spent years of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Chinatown. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
if there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, 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 arrive at the sum to be paid.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Chinatown flat is 36 New Wanstead in August 2010. The Tribunal arrived at a valuation of the premium for the freehold of £22,359. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 73.92 years.