Me and my husband are purchasing residence in Downe. My Solicitor has never been on on the bank approved panel. Is it possible for me to retain my Downe conveyancing solicitor even though they are not on the bank approved list?
You have numerous choices open to you here
- Carry on with your existing Downe conveyancing practitioner but your lender will undoubtedly appoint a conveyancer from their approved panel. This will result in additional cost together with likely interruption.
- Choose a new solicitor to conduct the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel.
- Convince your property lawyer to do everything possible to get listed on the mortgage company panel of solicitors
We were just about to sign contracts for a garden flat in Downe. We have hit a problem. The mortgage offer with The Mortgage Works runs out on 13/3/2026 but the sellers are insisting on a completion date of 17/3/2026. Can one extend the loan offer?
The person best placed to deal with your concern is your lawyer who will determine if he or she is corresponding with the lender, seller’s conveyancers, estate agents or indeed all parties based on the history of your transaction as of today.
Are the Downe conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Co-operative conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Co-operative?
Downe conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Co-operative directly.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my home can not be found. The solicitors who conducted the conveyancing in Downe 4 years ago no longer exist. What are my next steps?
Gone are the days when you need to have the physical official documentation to establish that you own the land or premises, given that the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.
I am buying my first flat in Downe benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The sale representative told me not disclose to my lawyer about the side-deal as it could adversely affect my loan with Skipton Building Society. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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 employed by a busy estate agency in Downe where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Downe conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has been the owner 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 proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed 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 buyer.
We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Downe. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Downe conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Downe premises is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 50.57 years.