I am expecting a mortgage offer from Lloyds. My intention is to instruct a Licensed Conveyancer in Hanworth. Does the Lloyds Solicitor panel allow for conveyancers regulated by the CLC?
The Lloyds approved solicitor list is, like many other lenders, associated to the CML or Building Society Association, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the CLC.
Our lawyer has discovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the property we are buying in Hanworth. The seller’s lawyers have offered defective title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our property lawyer has advised that he must ensure that the bank is content with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?
Regardless of the fact that you have a mortgage offer from the mortgage company does not mean to say that the property will meet their specifications for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. You and the lender are the client. The appropriate lender specifications must be adhered to.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £235,500 and identified one round the corner in Hanworth I like with open areas and transport links nearby, however it only has 49 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Hanworth for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
My uncle has suggested that I instruct his conveyancing solicitors in Hanworth. Should I use them?
There are no two ways about it it’s preferable to choose a conveyancing solicitor is to have feedback from friends or family who have experience in using the conveyancer that you are are thinking of instructing.
Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Hanworth from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?
- Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hanworth can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers’ lawyers. If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a new share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Hanworth conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible. If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Hanworth state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you dont have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer first. You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.
I own a ground floor flat in Hanworth. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium due for the purchase of the freehold?
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 LVT to decide the amount due.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Hanworth property is 147 Redford Close in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the lease extension premium to be at £4,200 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 82.93 years.
Why can I not complete my conveyancing in Hanworth on Easter Monday?
Because on completion the sale price needs to be transferred electronically between the banks of the purchaser and seller's conveyancer and at present this can only happen on a business day. So you can't complete on a weekend either.