My partner and I are planning to acquire a house in Lee and have appointed a Lee conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Virgin Money have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Lee conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 property lawyer 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 Lee solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I am need of leasehold conveyancing for a flat in a relatively new development (five years old) in Lee. The vast majority the flats are already sold. Do I need carry out the local searches for my conveyancing in Lee?
You would be opening yourself up to an unnecessary risk in failing carrying out Lee conveyancing searches. Without searches you have no clarity over flooding, environmental etc which may mean you walk away due to potential problems down the line. If you are buying mortgage free there is no legal requirement to have them, but we would strongly advise in the strongest possible terms that you have them. Where time pressures and driving down costs are top of your concerns you should discuss with your solicitor about the option of search insurance
As I am unsure how the conveyancing process works what is the most important advice you can impart concerning purchase conveyancing in Lee?
Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in Lee and elsewhere in England and Wales is often a confrontational experience. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is plenty of room for confrontation between you and other parties involved in the transaction. E.g., the vendor, selling agent and sometimes the bank. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Lee should not be taken lightly as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the transaction whose interest is to protect your best interests and to keep you safe.
Every so often a third party with a vested interest may try and convince you that it is in your interests to do things their way. As an example, the property agent may claim to be assisting by suggesting your solicitor is wrong. Or your mortgage broker may advise you to do something that is contrary to your conveyancers advice. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties in the home moving process.
We wanted to use a property lawyer in Lee for our house move. Our financial adviser informed us that our mortgage lenders Clydesdale won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unduly restrictive?
A lender may direct that an approved conveyancer act for it. Borrowers are liable to meet the cost of this. Try using our directory service to select a solicitor to carry conveyancing in Lee on the Clydesdale member panel.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am wet behind the ears as a 1st time purchaser of a two bedroom flat in Lee. Do I collect the keys to the house on the completion date from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will instruct a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Lee?
On the day of completion you will not be required to attend the conveyancers office in Lee. Your solicitors will arrange to send the completion advance to the vendor’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you should be able to receive the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.
We are aiming to move home in June. Will my conveyancing solicitor liaise with the removal company on the completion day. Incidentally, can you put forward a removal company in Lee. Conveyancing solicitor was found before I stumbled across your site.
On the day of completion you can collect the house keys from the selling agent however this should only occur after the vendors solicitors confirm to the agent that they have the completion monies and the keys can be passed over. After that you will need to tell the removal men that they can start moving you in. We are not in a position to recommend a specific removal organisation but can help you locate a residential property solicitor in Lee or a firm with expertise in conveyancing in Lee.
I have paid off my mortgage with Barclays. I assume I don't need a Lee property lawyer on the Barclays panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Barclays 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 Barclays mortgage from the register. Barclays, 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 Barclays has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Barclays has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I have just appointed agents to market my garden apartment in Lee. Conveyancing has not commenced, however I have recently received a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?
It best that you clear the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service payments will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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.
We have reached the end of our tether in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Lee. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Lee conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Lee premises is 18 Handen Road in April 2013. On 26 October 2012 District Judge Zimmels sitting at the Lambeth County Court made a Vesting Order that the Applicants be granted the right to acquire the freehold upon such terms and at such price determined by the LVT. The Tribunal arrived a figure of £39,535 as a valuation for the enfranchisement. This case affected 3 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 69.05 years.