My fiance and I are hoping to acquire a home in Lewisham and have instructed a Lewisham conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. HSBC Bank have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Lewisham lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 mortgage company 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 Lewisham solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Having sold my house in Lewisham last December yet the purchaser is calling me to say his lawyer is waiting to hear from mine. What should my lawyer have done now that I have sold?
After completion of your sale your conveyancer is obliged to deliver the transfer documentation and all additional paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. Depending on the transaction, your solicitor must also confirm that the home loan has been discharged to the purchasers lawyers. There are no post completion requirements just for conveyancing in Lewisham.
A relative advised me that where I am buying in Lewisham I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your Lewisham conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Lewisham around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Lewisham.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Lewisham. Conveyancing is daunting at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below are examples of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Lewisham
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Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry. The Vendor must covenant to keep unsold units in good repair until long leases are granted therefore. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Please confirm the Lease plans are architect prepared.
I am looking for a flat up to £305k and identified one near me in Lewisham I like with amenity areas and station nearby, however it's only got 52 years on the lease. There is not much else in Lewisham for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a home loan that many years will be an issue. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
How do I use the search app to get a costs illustration from a conveyancing solicitor in Lewisham on the approved list for my lender?
Step one is to pick a lender such as National Westminster Bank, Leeds Building Society or Clydesdale then type in your preferred area for instance Lewisham. Conveyancing organisations in Lewisham and beyond will then be listed.