Unfortunately I am unable to travel far from Lewisham. Is there a reason why all Lewisham conveyancing practitioners aren't included on all lender panels?
Mortgage Companies ordinarily restrict either the nature or the number of conveyancing firms on their approved list of lawyers. Typical examples of such criteria being that the organisation must have two or more partners. As well as restricting the structure of firm, some lenders made a decision to restrict the size of their panel they use to represent them. It is worth noting that banks have no liability for the quality of conveyancing supplied by any Lewisham property lawyer on their panel. Increases in mortgage fraud was the main trigger for the culling of solicitor panels a few years ago notwithstanding that there are contrary views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics published by HMLR exposes that thousands of law practices only transact less than three conveyances annually. Those advocating conveyancing panel consolidation question why law firms should have any entitlement to be listed on a lender panel when clearly property law is not their primary expertise?
Why do I have to pay up front for my conveyancing in Lewisham?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Lewisham your lawyer will request that you to provide them with monies to cover the search fees. Normally this is called for to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. When the deposit is as part of the sale price then this will be needed shortly before exchange of contracts. The closing balance that is due should be sent to your lawyer shortly before completion.
My wife and I have a terraced Victorian property in Lewisham. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Santander. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Lewisham and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.
I am purchasing a new build house in Lewisham with the aid of help to buy. The developers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The house builders rep told me not to tell my conveyancer about the side-deal as it could adversely affect my loan with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Lewisham before retaining solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor advised that some mortgage companies will not give a mortgage on this type of premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different requirements from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can check via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Lewisham. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Lewisham especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Lewisham.
Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in Lewisham. Conveyancing is yet to be initiated, but I have recently had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the invoice as you normally would because all rents and maintenance invoices will be apportioned on completion, so you should recover the relevant percentage by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the subsequent invoice date. Most managing agents 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.
After months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Lewisham. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Lewisham conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Lewisham residence is 73 Walerand Road in August 2012. the result of the findings of the Tribunal led to a premium to be paid for the extended lease in respect of Flat 73 in the sum of £10,040. The premium applicable in respect of Flat 85 was £5,710. This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 72 years.