I'm in the process of transferring my domestic home loan to a Buy to Let Virgin Money mortgage. I have been informed by my broker that I require a conveyancer for this. I got in contact with my past London conveyancing solicitor who acted on my behalf when I previously bought the property. The fee calculation issued of £450 plus VAT is an eye-watering amount to do this as I am not require purchase conveyancing - it’s just a bog-standard refinance.
The costs illustration is fractionally on the steep side. If you you were to look around you could reduce the fees marginally by as much as £100 plus VAT. That being said, if you were satisfied with the assistance the firm gave you couldlive to regret opting for an an unknown lawyer. Don't forget to enquire the firm can also act for Virgin Money. Do use our search tool to choose a London conveyancing firm on the Virgin Money member panel, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in London.
Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in London costs more?
London leasehold properties involve far more paperwork than a freehold purchase, and therefore takes more time to examine and advise upon.Conveyancing will involve the lease having to be checked which is usually a lengthy document, queries raised to ensure that the covenants and conditions have been observed. If it is a flat there will be a management company in existence and the accounts of this will need to be checked and enquiries raised to ensure it is operating efficiently and that all monies due have been paid by the Seller to the company and if not ensuring that money is paid up to date or the appropriate undertakings obtained.
My grandfather passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in London. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £5k. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Co-operative, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Where you intend to re-mortgage then Co-operative will require that you use a conveyancer on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Co-operative conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Co-operative mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
A friend advised me that if I am buying in London I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is sometimes included in the estimate for your London conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about London 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 demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information about London.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in London which have approximately forty five years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in London is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the property. The majority of buyers and banks, leases with under eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with London conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
Despite our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in London. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
if there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the premium.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a London property is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 73.26 years.
My husband and I have recently had an offer accepted on a apartment and had meeting on Monday with Nationwide for the mortgage. They have informed us that when it comes to choosing a solicitor that unless they are on their approved list of conveyancing practitioners then we will have to pay out a further fee of £250+. This is because they would then have to appoint a conveyancer to act on their behalf in addition to the one we appoint for ourselves and we assume responsibility for their fees. I have requested Nationwide to furnish me with a list so I can obtain quotes only from their approved lawyers but was told that I need to check with each individual conveyancer to see if they are on the panel. Is there a list online?
You should ask Nationwide what their panel criteria is for a conveyancer.Then ask the property lawyer of your choice whether they fit that criteria and have they acted on loans for Nationwide previously. Where the answer to those is yes, then just double check with Nationwide. Another option is to utilise our search tool and we should be able to identify a property lawyer in London on the panel for Nationwide.