I am need of leasehold conveyancing for an apartment in a relatively new development (6 years built) in Crystal Palace. 95% of the flats have already been occupied. Is it strictly necessary to order conveyancing searches for my conveyancing in Crystal Palace?
You would be taking a significant risk in refusing to carrying out Crystal Palace conveyancing searches. Without searches you have no clarity over flooding, environmental etc which may mean you walk away due to potential problems down the line. If you are buying mortgage free there is no legal necessity to have them, but we would strongly advise in the strongest possible terms that you have them. If accelerating the process and cost are primary issues you should discuss with your solicitor about the options such as contingency insurance available to you
My husband and I have arranged the release of further monies on our mortgage from Nationwide as we want to conduct alterations to our home in Crystal Palace. Do we need to choose a local Crystal Palace solicitor on the Nationwide conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?
Nationwide don't usually require a member of their approved list of lawyers to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Nationwide conveyancing panel.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Nationwide. I assume I don't need a Crystal Palace property lawyer on the Nationwide panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Nationwide mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Nationwide mortgage from the register. Nationwide, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Nationwide has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Nationwide has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I have instructed a Crystal Palace property lawyer having checked that they are on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Yorkshire BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Yorkshire BS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Crystal Palace postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Yorkshire BS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Crystal Palace.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Crystal Palace with a loan from Nationwide Building Society. The builders would not move on the price so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The house builders rep told me not disclose to my solicitor about this extras as it would jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I am looking for a flat up to £305k and found one close by in Crystal Palace I like with a park and station in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 51 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Crystal Palace for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
Should you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor about this.
I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Crystal Palace where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Crystal Palace conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process 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. This means that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. 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.
I have given up trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Crystal Palace. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
if there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the price payable.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Crystal Palace premises is Flat 1 4 Border Crescent in March 2012. the Tribunal decided that the sum payable by the Applicants to the Respondent in respect of the new lease for the subject property should be £11,616.00 (ElevenThousand and Six Hundred and Sixteen Pounds) This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 72.04 years.
Me and my partner are purchasing a leasehold apartment in Crystal Palace. Conveyancing quotes are coming in at around £two thousand. Is that in the right ballpark?
The average cost in 2014 for conveyancing in Crystal Palace was £1,500 not including Land Tax and Land Registry charges.