I am progressing with the sale of my ground floor flat in Gunnersbury and the estate agent has just telephoned to warn that the buyers are appointing a new law firm. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major mortgage company only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Gunnersbury ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for many years.
Banks attribute this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Gunnersbury? Why is this being asked of me?
It is indeed that case that these requests have nothing to do with conveyancing in Gunnersbury. Nowadays you can not complete any conveyancing transaction if you have not supplying proof of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence plus a utility bill. Remember if you are supplying your driving licence as proof of ID it needs to be both the paper element and photo card part, one is not satisfactory without the other.
Verification of the origin of funds is required under Money Laundering Regulations. You should not be offended when when this is requested of you as your conveyancer will need to retain this information on file. Your Gunnersbury conveyancing lawyer will require evidence of proof of funds before they are able to accept any monies from you into their client account and they will also ask additional queries concerning the origin of monies.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Gunnersbury I like with a park and transport links nearby, the downside is that it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Gunnersbury in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?
Should you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
My husband and I are FTB’s - agreed a price, but the agent has warned us that the vendor will only go ahead if we appoint the agent's chosen conveyancers as they want an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a family conveyancer accustomed to conveyancing in Gunnersbury
We suspect that the seller is not behind this request. If they desire ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a motivated buyer is likely to cause more damage than good. Avoid the agents and go straight to the sellers and make sure they understand (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you do not need to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you are going to appoint your own,trusted Gunnersbury conveyancing lawyers - rather thanthe ones that will provide their estate agent a introducer fee or hit his conveyancing figures set by head office.
My partner and I may need to let out our Gunnersbury garden flat for a while due to a new job. We instructed a Gunnersbury conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?
A small minority of properties in Gunnersbury do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.
I own a two-bedroom flat in Gunnersbury. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?
Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Gunnersbury conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Gunnersbury flat is 169 Southfield Road in September 2013. the tribunal decided that the premium to be paid in respect of the collective enfranchisement should be £51,203 This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 64.64 years.
We are about to exchange on the purchase a house in Gunnersbury but as a consequence of wreckage from the recent storms I have negotiated compensation from the vendor of four thousand pounds taking the form of a reduction in the price. This was going to be dealt with as part of the conveyancing process however my lender will not agree to this. Why were they notified?
Any conveyancing practitioner being on the lender approved list is obliged to advise the lender of any amendments to the purchase amount. In the event that you did not allow your conveyancing practitioner to disclose the reduction to your mortgage company then they would need to refrain from representing you and the mortgage company.