We were about to choose a conveyancing solicitor in Custom House endorsed on your site but stumbled across alternative fee calculations via the web seem less pricey – how come?
One can find lots of conveyancers advertising theoretically looks to be cut price. Our advice is to think long and hard about how much you respect your own move to want to be penny wise pound foolish over the standard of the legal work. Many of them list a cheap fee to grab your attention but plant supplemental charges in the fine print..
My husband and I are only a couple days away from an exchange on a flat in Custom House and my mum and dad have sent the ten percent deposit to my conveyancing practitioner. I am now told that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my conveyancer needs to disclose this to my lender. Apparently, in also acting for the mortgage company he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I disclosed to the mortgage company concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really necessary for this now to hold matters up?
Your conveyancer is legally required to check with mortgage company to make sure that they understand that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. Your solicitor can only notify this to your lender if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
A relative informed me that in buying a property in Custom House there may be a number of restrictions affecting the ability to carry out external changes to the property. Is this right?
We are aware of a number of properties in Custom House which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Custom House should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I have a mortgage with Bank of Ireland for my property in Custom House. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Bank of Ireland?
You must advise Bank of Ireland in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Bank of Ireland’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Bank of Ireland will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Bank of Ireland directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel solicitor.
I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Custom House. My financial adviser suggested a solicitor. I paid an advanced payment of £150. A couple of days later, the lawyer called me to say that they were not on the HSBC 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 HSBC 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.
I need some expedited conveyancing in Custom House as I am under an ultimatum to complete in less than 3 weeks. A home loan is not required. Is it possible to avoid the conveyancing searches to save fees and time?
As you are not getting a home loan you have the choice not to do searches although no law firm would advise that you don't. Drawing on years of experience of conveyancing in Custom House the following are instances of issues that can appear and adversely affect market value: Enforcement Actions, Outstanding Charges, Overdue Grants, Unadopted Roads,...
I am buying a new build flat in Custom House. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Custom House
-
The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. Please provide evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry.
I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in Custom House which have in the region of forty five years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Custom House is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Custom House conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease. They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
I inherited a a ground floor purpose built flat in Custom House. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium due for the purchase of the freehold?
in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to make a decision on the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Custom House property is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 69.77 years.