I am obtaining a offer of a home loan from Nat West. My intention is to employ the services of a Licensed Conveyancer in Mayfair. Does the Nat West Solicitor panel allow for Licensed Conveyancers?
The Nat West approved solicitor list is, like many other lenders, represented by the CML or Building Society Association, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
Our son-in-law is purchasing a house that has just been built in Mayfair with a home loan from TSB. His lawyer has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the TSB conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the TSB conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
Why do I have to pay up front for my conveyancing in Mayfair?
If you are buying a property in Mayfair your solicitor will request that you put them with monies to cover the search fees. Normally this is requested to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. If any down payment is payable against the total price then this should be asked for shortly ahead of contracts are exchanged. Any further balance that is needed should be transferred shortly before completion.
My colleague advised me that if I am purchasing in Mayfair I should ask my conveyancer to carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is usually quoted for as part of the standard Mayfair conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Mayfair 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 details, Mayfair Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Mayfair.
My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Mayfair. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in Mayfair who acted for me is not around. Do I pay?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Mayfair conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without getting anywhere. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Mayfair conveyancing firm to help?
Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Mayfair conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Mayfair residence is Flat 1 3 Upper Belgrave Street in December 2010. The Tribunal determined that the price payablefor the Lease extension in respect of the subject premises was £2,202,007 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 21 years.
My son is embarking on her first house purchase, he had his mortgage in principle. One the offer was accepted on flat we rang the mortgage institution to progress the mortgage application. I was disappointed to learn that banks do not accept all conveyancer, they must be on their panel, is this right?
Lenders ordinarily restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their panel. Typical examples of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that lenders have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Mayfair conveyancing practitioner on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Probably not.