I have just been advised by my lender that my Clerkenwell property lawyer is not on the lender Solicitor panel. What can I do to check?
You need to call your Clerkenwell lawyer directly. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to inform you what has happened. Where they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Clerkenwell conveyancing practice that is on the approved list of lawyers for your lender.
We just had an offer accepted to purchase with Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. We have called around locally but am unable to find a Clerkenwell conveyancing firm on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society approved list. Could you help?
Please do make the most of the search tool on this web page. Please choose the lender and type Clerkenwell or your preferred area and you will see a number of lawyer based in Clerkenwell or near you.
My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Clerkenwell. Conveyancing is needed. What are my next steps?
Now that you are to all intents and purposes signed on the dotted line you will need to hire the services of a conveyancing solicitor quickly as you will have a pending deadline in which to complete the property. An auction property will have an associated legal set of papers. This should include evidence of title and search results. In the case of leasehold premises the conveyancing pack should include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing paperwork relating to a leasehold property. You must hand this to the lawyer instructed by you as soon as possible. You also need to ensure that that you have the requisite funding in place to complete on the date specified in the contract.
I am the sole recipient of my late father’s estate and I have everything in my name now, including the my former home in Clerkenwell. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in September. I plan to dispose of the house. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders 6 month 'rule', meaning my property ownership may be treated the same way as though I had purchased the property in September. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be caught by that. How sensible a view banks take of it, depend on the lender as this obligation principally exists to capture subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
Is it the case that all Clerkenwell conveyancing solicitors on the Barclays conveyancing panel are overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Barclays approved list of solicitors they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of mortgage companies do list licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the practice would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
My relative suggested that if I am purchasing in Clerkenwell I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is sometimes quoted for as part of the standard Clerkenwell conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Clerkenwell around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Clerkenwell Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Clerkenwell Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about Clerkenwell.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up during conveyancing in Clerkenwell?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Clerkenwell. 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…’
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Clerkenwell where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Clerkenwell conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has been the owner 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 has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.
After months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Clerkenwell. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Clerkenwell conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Clerkenwell property is Flat 89 Trinity Court Grays Inn Road in February 2013. the Tribunal found that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 should be £36,229. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 66.8 years.