I am progressing with the sale of my ground floor flat in Church End and the EA has just telephoned to warn that the purchasers are changing their solicitor. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a major mortgage company only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Church End ?
Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for many years.
Banks justify this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
My wife and I have recently appointed a conveyancing solicitor in Church End. I I am struggling to find out whether they are accepted on the Godiva Mortgages Ltd approved list of lawyers. Can you assist?
You should contact the conveyancer and enquire whether they can act for the lender. Otherwise you should call Godiva Mortgages Ltd who may be able to help.
Various online forums that I have frequented warn that are the number one reason for stalling in Church End conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the determinations of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the common causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to feature in any slowing down conveyancing in Church End.
About to purchase a new build apartment in Church End. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Church End
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There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided.
I decided to have a survey done on a property in Church End before retaining solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the property. The surveyor has said that some mortgage companies tend not grant a loan on a flying freehold premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you e-mail us we can investigate further via the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Church End. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I work for a long established estate agent office in Church End where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Church End conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.
Following months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Church End. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
in cases where there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the price.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Church End property is Ground Floor 110 Station Road in June 2013. The Tribunal found that the premium payable for a lease extension should be £31,665. This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 56.65 years.