I am 3 weeks into the sale of my house in Cotham and the EA has just text me to warn that the buyers are swapping solicitor. The excuse is that the bank will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major lender only deal with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Cotham ?
UK 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 Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.
Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices 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 impact on this.
Would the conveyancing lawyers listed on your site carry out attended exchange conveyancing in Cotham?
There are a few conveyancing specialists who can conduct one day exchanges. Do e-mail us to get a costs illustration and details as to dates.
Can you explain why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Cotham is more expensive?
The conveyancing fees on a leasehold premises in Cotham is frequently greater when contrasted to a freehold residence. This is because there is an amount of supplemental work required in liaising with the freeholder and management company to obtain evidence about whether the rent and maintenance charges have been discharged and whether there are any large sums expected to be spent in the foreseeable future on repairs or maintenance of the block.
About to purchase a new build flat in Cotham. Conveyancing is necessary evil 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 legal work.
Here is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Cotham
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Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. 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.
Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold house in Cotham. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Cotham who previously acted has now retired. What should I do?
The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Cotham conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I bought a basement flat in Cotham, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Cotham with over 90 years remaining are worth £216,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2095
You have 70 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus legals.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.
My parents cant seem to find their Cotham land registry title on the online search facility. They recall that 50 years ago when they purchased the house there were complications with Cotham not being recognised in some systems.
Nearly all properties in Cotham should show up. Have you tried a search with just the postcode. Ordinarily it should mention all the houses and flats inside that postcode. Assuming the property is recorded it will be there with a title number. Where they bought fifty years ago it's conceivable it may be unregistered. The address could still be revealed but with the title number identified as 'na'. In this scenario you will need to find the original title papers which could be with your parent’s bank.