My wife and I are getting closer to an exchange on a flat in Clapham and my mum and dad have transferred the 10% deposit to my property lawyer. I am now informed that as the deposit has been received from someone other than me my solicitor needs to make a notification to my mortgage company. Apparently, in also acting for the bank he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is not just from me. I advised the lender concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really appropriate for him to raise this?
Your lawyer is obliged to check with mortgage company to make sure that they understand that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. The solicitor can only disclose this to your mortgage company if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
Having sold my house in Clapham last August yet the purchaser is texting every few hours complaining that their solicitor is waiting to hear from mylawyer. What are the post completion sale legalities now that I have sold?
After completion of your house sale your conveyancer is duty bound to deliver the transfer documentation and all additional paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. If applicable, your lawyer must also send confirmation that the mortgage has been discharged to the buyers solicitors. There are no post completion tasks unique to conveyancing in Clapham.
My Conveyancer in Clapham is not on the Lloyds TSB Bank Solicitor Panel. Can I still use my prefered solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the Lloyds TSB Bank panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
Your options are as follows:
- Carry on with your preferred Clapham lawyers but Lloyds TSB Bank will need to use a lawyer on their list of acceptable firms. This will result in additional total legal charges and cause frustration.
- Find a new solicitor to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are Convince your solicitor to do everything within their powers to join the Lloyds TSB Bank conveyancing panel
My stepmother informed me that in purchasing a property in Clapham there may be a number of restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external alterations to the property. Is this right?
We are aware of a number of properties in Clapham which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external changes. Part of the conveyancing in Clapham should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I'm the only beneficiary of my late grandmother’s estate and I have everything in my name alone, including the my former home in Clapham. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in March. I want to move. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship may be considered the same way as if I'd bought the property in March. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be impacted by that. How sensible a view banks take of it, depend on the mortgage company as this requirement is chiefly there to capture subsales or the flipping of properties.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Clapham. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their solicitor. I paid an upfront payment of £175. Shortly after, the lawyer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Virgin Money panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Clapham is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Clapham are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Clapham you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Clapham may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Clapham where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Clapham conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 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 sale.
An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 buyer.
I have had difficulty in negotiating a lease extension in Clapham. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute 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 payable.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Clapham premises is 23 Chelsham Road in May 2013. the Tribunal found that the sum of £13,870.00 was payable for the freehold following a vestig order having been granted by Swansea County Court dated 1st March 2013 This case affected 3 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 99 years.