Is it necessary during the course of the conveyancing process to visit the offices of the solicitor to sign the mortgage deed? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Friern Barnet so that I can pop in to their offices when needed.
Whereas this was necessary 12 years ago, almost all mortgage companies no longer require their conveyancing panel lawyer to witness the borrowers signature. It will still be necessary for you to hand over identification documents and there are still distinct benefits to instructing a local ayer, in your situation a conveyancing solicitor in Friern Barnet.
My relative suggested that if I am purchasing in Friern Barnet I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Friern Barnet conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Friern Barnet around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Friern Barnet Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Friern Barnet.
I am purchasing a new build house in Friern Barnet with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to budge the amount so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The estate agent advised me not disclose to my conveyancer about the extras as it may jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
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.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, chain free conveyancing. Friern Barnet is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Friern Barnet are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Friern Barnet you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Friern Barnet may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
I have been pointed in your direction by a few property agents in Friern Barnet to select a conveyancer using your seach tool. What’s the financial upside for Estate Agents to market your services rather than alternative conveyancing organisations?
We refuse to make any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as home movers will think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Friern Barnet from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?
- Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Friern Barnet can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ lawyers. If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Friern Barnet leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Where you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand. You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale. If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing. A minority of Friern Barnet leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
Having spent months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Friern Barnet. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Friern Barnet conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Friern Barnet flat is 34 Poplar Grove in June 2013. The Tribunal directed that the premium for the lease extension should be in the sum of £10,250. This case was in relation to 1 flat.