My wife and I are looking to acquire a property in Kilburn Park and have appointed a Kilburn Park conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. TSB have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Kilburn Park conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Kilburn Park solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
What happens if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Lloyds Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Kilburn Park?
First, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
Does a directory service exist listing Virgin Money panel conveyancers in Kilburn Park on the Council of Mortgage Lender’s Website?
Unfortunately not yet. There is no such tool on the CML or Building Society Association sites. Very few banks make their panel listings viewable over the internet. If you are looking for a Kilburn Park property lawyer on the Virgin Money please make the most of our facility.
The mortgage over my property is with UBS for my property in Kilburn Park. Conveyancing was finalised 12 months ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform UBS?
You must advise UBS before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of UBS’s mortgage conditions. It may be that UBS will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact UBS directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a UBS conveyancing panel solicitor.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Kilburn Park conveyancer having made sure that they are on the Santander conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Santander will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Santander will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your solicitor will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Kilburn Park postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Santander, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Kilburn Park.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Kilburn Park prior to instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. My surveyor advised that some banks may not grant a mortgage on this type of home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can check with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Kilburn Park. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Kilburn Park to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Kilburn Park. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have recently had a half-yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the maintenance contribution as normal because all rents and maintenance payments will be allotted as part of the financial calculations for completion monies, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the purchaser for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.
I am the leaseholder of a ground-floor 1950’s flat in Kilburn Park. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for the purchase of the freehold?
in cases where there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the amount due.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Kilburn Park residence is 4 & 4A Charteris Road in June 2009. the Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the enfranchisement of 4/4a Charteris Road to be £15,510 for at 4and £15,694 for at 4a This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 70.02 years.
My sister completed her conveyancing in Kilburn Park Six years ago. She has been married, divorced and in recent months got married again. She now wishes to the sell the Kilburn Park property. I think she will just be requested to supply copies of the marriage certificates to the property lawyer but she is worried it could delay the sale of the house. Is it worth updating the Land Registry information for the property?
The is no need to bring up to date the register on the basis that you have the evidence required to demonstrate how the change of name resulted.
The purchaser’s property lawyer will check the land registry entries and requisition evidence to establish the change of name for example marriage documentation.