I am progressing with the sale of my ground floor flat in Honor Oak and the estate agent has just called to say that the buyers are switching property lawyer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only work with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading lender only engage with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Honor Oak ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for over 25 years.
Lenders justify this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any impact on this.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in Honor Oak. Now, I need my documents however the law firm has closed. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Honor Oak of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one near me in Honor Oak I like with a park and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 51 years on the lease. There is not much else in Honor Oak for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a short lease?
Should you require a mortgage that many years will be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this.
Do I need to be suspicious about brokers that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use an online conveyancing firm rather than a High Street Honor Oak conveyancing firm?
As with many service providers, often recommendations from connections can be worth their weight in gold. Nevertheless there are numerous people with a keen interest in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, financial adviser and banks might all suggest solicitors to choose. Sometimes these lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but sometimes there is an underlying commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You are free to choose your own conveyancer. You need to be aware that some banks specify a panel list of law firms you must use for the mortgage related work in your home move.
We are 17 days into a leasehold purchase having been directed to solicitors by the high street agent to carry out the conveyancing in Honor Oak. I am am very frustrated with the quality of service. Can you you assist me in finding new solicitors?
They would have to be very bad to suggest changing them. Has your loan offer been issued? If so you need to inform them of the new contact details and ensure the offer are re-sent. Your new conveyancer needs to be on the banks approved list to avoid supplemental costs and frustration. That should be your starting point. Our find a solicitor tool will help you find a bank approved conveyancer for your home move in Honor Oak
What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Honor Oak conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?
When appointing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Honor Oak conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Honor Oak conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions could be helpful:
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If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?
After months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Honor Oak. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Honor Oak conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Honor Oak residence is Flat 1 40-42 Ewelme Road in August 2012. the Tribunal assessed the premium for the lease extension in the sum of £11,800 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 61.81 years.