It is a dozen years since I bought my house in Harlesden. Conveyancing lawyers have now been instructed on the sale but I can't track down the deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
You need not be too concerned. First there is a possibility that the deeds will be with the lender or they may be in the possession of the solicitor who handled the purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the property will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors procuring current official copies of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Harlesden involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it is more of a problem but is resolvable.
I am considering applying for a Virgin Money mortgage for purchase of a newly converted (under development) in Harlesden with 70% loan to value. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for Virgin Money ?
There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but Virgin Money will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is much more potential for delays and confusion with an additional lawyer added to the mix, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.
My stepmother pointed out to me me that in buying a property in Harlesden there may be various restrictions limiting what one can do in terms of external changes to the property. Is this right?
There are anumerous of properties in Harlesden which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Harlesden should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I have paid off my mortgage with Kent Reliance. I assume I don't need a Harlesden conveyancer on the Kent Reliance panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Kent Reliance mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Kent Reliance mortgage from the register. Kent Reliance, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Kent Reliance has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Kent Reliance has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Intending to buy a house in Harlesden. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Harlesden conveyancing practitioner is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel.
I am buying my first flat in Harlesden with a mortgage from Clydesdale. The developers would not budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The sale representative suggested that I not reveal to my lawyer about this deal as it will jeopardize my mortgage with the lender. 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 work for a long established estate agency in Harlesden where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Harlesden conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.
After years of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Harlesden. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the amount due.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Harlesden property is First Floor Flat 2B Fortune Gate Road in May 2013. the tribunal decided that the price payable for the lease extension was £9,331, together with £900 in respect of outstanding ground rent. This case related to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 74.31 years.
How easy is it to change a solicitor as I need to find a Harlesden based conveyancer who is on the bank conveyancing panel. How simple is it to change conveyancer?
In the event that you have not formally instructed a solicitor to start work and at this stage simply received an estimate as to costs, you're perfectly free to choose a different solicitor to carry out your work for you. The best way is to get recommendations from friends or family who have actually used the solicitor or conveyancer in Harlesden that you're thinking of instructing.