My solicitor has identified a defect with the lease for the property we are purchasing in Cuffley. The seller’s lawyers have put forward title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will cover the costs. Our lawyer has advised that he must check that the bank is willing to move forward with this solution. Are we the client or is the mortgage company ?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the bank are the client. Your solicitor must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the mortgage company can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your conveyancer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
We previously selected conveyancers with offices in Cuffley on the TSB solicitor approved list. They have just billed me an additional amount for dealing with the TSB mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by TSB?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your solicitor may charge a fee for this. The charge is not dictated by TSB but by your Cuffley conveyancer. Plenty of firms on the TSB panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee but some firms incorporate it on their overall fee.
Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Cuffley. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Team at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Cuffley. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £200. A few days later, the solicitor contacted me to say that they were not on the UBS 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 UBS 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.
Will my conveyancer be raising questions concerning flooding as part of the conveyancing in Cuffley.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors conducting conveyancing in Cuffley. There are those who purchase a property in Cuffley, fully expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical damage, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, however there are a various searches that may be carried out by the purchaser or by their conveyancers which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in Cuffley. The standard information sent to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a standard question of the owner to determine if the premises has ever been flooded. In the event that the residence has been flooded in past which is not notified by the owner, then a purchaser could issue a legal claim for losses stemming from an inaccurate answer. The purchaser’s lawyers will also order an environmental report. This should reveal if there is any known flood risk. If so, further investigations should be initiated.
I got the keys to my apartment on 10 March and the transaction details are still not registered. Should I be concerned? My conveyancing solicitor in Cuffley advises it should be registered in less than a month. Are transfers in Cuffley particularly slow to register?
There is nothing unique about conveyancing in Cuffley registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can differ according to the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and whether the Land registry have to notify any other parties. Currently in the region of three quarters of such applications are fully addressed within 12 days but occasionally there can be extensive hold-ups. Registration occurs once the buyer is living at the premises thus post completion formalities is not usually an essential issue but where there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your conveyancer could contact the land registry and explain the circumstances.
We're new on the property ladder - agreed a price, yet the agent advised that the vendor will only go ahead if we use the agent's recommended solicitors as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. Our preferred option is to instruct a high street solicitor who is accustomed to conveyancing in Cuffley
It is unlikely the sellers are behind this. Should the seller require ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated buyer is going to damage their objectives. Speak to the vendors direct and explain that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you will continue to instruct your own,trusted Cuffley conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will earn the negotiator at the agency a kickback or meet his conveyancing targets demanded by senior management.
I am employed by a busy estate agency in Cuffley where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Cuffley conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities 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. The benefit of this is 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 has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.
Cuffley Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing
-
How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the lessees benefit from being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is often employed if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. What prohibitions are contained in the Cuffley Lease?