My god-son is purchasing a new build apartment in Covent Garden with a home loan from Clydesdale. His conveyancer has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Clydesdale conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
I am due to exchange contracts on my house. I had a double glazing fitted in October 2007, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Virgin Money are being pedantic. The Covent Garden solicitor who is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Virgin Money are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Virgin Money have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Virgin Money have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Virgin Money may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
Planning on purchasing a flat in Covent Garden. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the HSBC conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Covent Garden conveyancer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel.
Santander have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a property in Covent Garden has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
Your estate agent will need to know who your solicitors are (be sure the conveyancing practitioners are on the lender’s approved list). Telephone Santander or the financial adviser and complete any appropriate forms. Santander will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or seller to arrange a slot for the valuation to happen. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about ten days for the mortgage offer to be issued. Santander will send the offer to you and your property lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Covent Garden.
I used Action Conveyancing several years ago for my conveyancing in Covent Garden. Now, I need the documents however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Covent Garden of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
We're FTB’s - agreed a price, but the agent advised that the seller will only issue a contract if we instruct the agent's preferred solicitors as they need a ‘quick sale’. My instinct tells me that we should use a family solicitor who is familiar with conveyancing in Covent Garden
We suspect that the seller is unaware of this demand. If they want ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a genuine buyer is likely to cause more damage than good. Speak to the owners direct and make the point that (a)you are serious purchasers (b)you are ready to progress, with mortgage lined up © you are unencumbered (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you intend to instruct your preferred Covent Garden conveyancing firm - rather thanthe ones that will earn their negotiator at the agency a kickback or meet his conveyancing targets pre-set by HQ.
I have just started marketing my basement apartment in Covent Garden. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed, however I have recently received a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?
The sensible thing to do is clear the maintenance contribution as you normally would because all rents and service invoices will be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you will be reimbursed by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
Following years of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Covent Garden. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the premium.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Covent Garden flat is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case was in relation to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 73.26 years.
My parents are experiencing difficulties in finding their Covent Garden property on the HM Land Registry site. They have a vague recollection 50 years ago when they acquired the house there were complications with Covent Garden not being identified on some systems.
The vast majority of premises in Covent Garden should be revealed. Have you attempted a search with simply the postcode. Usually it should reveal all the premises inside that postcode. Assuming the property is recorded it will be there with a title number. If they bought 50 years ago it's conceivable it may be unrecorded. The address might still be revealed but with the title number identified as 'na'. In this scenario you will need to locate the original title deeds which may be with your parent’s mortgage company.