Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in Earls Court is more expensive?
Earls Court leasehold conveyancing transactions usually involve additional investigations than freeholds including investigating the Lease, liaising with the Landlord such as serving appropriate notices on the Landlord or managing agent, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining Landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts and formation documents.
I am told that my conveyancing solicitors will need to check that the building insurance for my purchase of a house in Earls Court. My lender is Chelsea Building Society
Chelsea Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 29/5/2026, the requirements read as follows :
I am purchasing a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in Earls Court. We would like to an extension at the rear at the house.Will legal investigations on the property involve enquiries to determine if these alterations are prohibited?
Your conveyancer will review the deeds as conveyancing in Earls Court can on occasion reveal restrictions in the title deeds which restrict categories of alterations or necessitated the permission of another owner. Many works need local authority planning consent and approval under the building regulations. Certain areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or impact extensions. You should check these things with a surveyor prior to committing yourself to a purchase.
My wife and I are in the throws of viewing houses in Earls Court and I am about to put in an offer. Is it advisable to have my conveyancer on ‘stand by’? I intend to finance via a home loan with Yorkshire BS.
You should start obtaining conveyancing estimates from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the EA. As you are getting a mortgage with Yorkshire BS, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel.
I have instructed a Earls Court property lawyer having checked that they are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Bank of Ireland will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Bank of Ireland 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. You may wish to consider appointing your own Earls Court surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Earls Court with a loan from Virgin Money. The sellers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent advised me not reveal to my solicitor about this deal as it would jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. Should I keep quiet?.
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've recently bought a leasehold flat in Earls Court. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I am the registered owner of a ground-floor 1960’s flat in Earls Court. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum payable for the purchase of the freehold?
in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute 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 Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the premium.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Earls Court residence is 5 Wetherby Gardens in June 2014. the Tribunal concluded that the price to be paid for the freehold of the property was £2,369,452. This case was in relation to 5 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 38.98 years.
What do I do if I am dissatisfied with the conveyancer who undertook our conveyancing in Earls Court?
We live in an imperfect world, and is is a fact of life that sometimes matters do not go as planned. However there is recourse where you were not happy with your conveyancing in Earls Court. This varies from trying to resolve matters directly with them, through to reporting a property lawyer to their governing body. If things still aren’t resolved you may consider getting in touch with the Legal Ombudsman.