I am in the market for a low cost conveyancer. Should I go for for a nationwide conveyancer as opposed to a high street Merton conveyancing solicitor?
Generally conveyancing practitioners in your location will have strong connections with your local authority, which could help with your Merton conveyancing searches that your solicitor will require on your transaction. It also helps if they enjoy good connections with the Land Registry overseeing your area Merton, other conveyancers in the neighbourhood and Merton property agents.
Please help. My Merton conveyancer is advising me that he has toapply for Merton conveyancing searches asthe firm are on the Virgin Moneyapproved lawyer panel. Do I not have any say here?
You have limited options available to you. Given that you are taking out a loan with a lender your property lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your property lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of your bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements . Even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out Merton conveyancing searches.
I am assisting my mother sell her property in Merton. Will the conveyancer commission the energy assessment or do I organise this?
Following the abolition of HIPs, EPC’s remained a mandatory part of moving property. An energy assessment needs to be commissioned before the property is put on the market. It is not a task that law firms normally arrange. Where you are using a Merton conveyancing solicitor they might be willing to arrange EPC’s given their relationships with long established local assessors
I am planning to move property in September. Should my conveyancing solicitor call the removal company on the completion day. As an aside, can you recommend a removal company in Merton. Conveyancing firm was chosen prior to coming across this page.
On the afternoon of completion you will need to collect the keys from the selling agent but this should only happen once the previous owners lawyers confirm to the agent that they acknowledge receipt of the completion payment and the keys can be passed over. Subsequently you should inform the removal company that you are ready to move in. We are not in a position to suggest a specific removal organisation but can assist you in finding a conveyancing in Merton or a solicitor that specialises in conveyancing in Merton.
My fiancee and I are in the throws of viewing flats in Merton and I am about to put in an offer. Is it sensible to have a solicitor on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a home loan with Clydesdale.
It would be sensible to commence your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the selling agent. As you are taking out a mortgage with Clydesdale, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel.
My relative suggested that where I am purchasing in Merton I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Merton conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out important information about Merton 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 Property Price, Crime statistics, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Merton.
What makes a Merton lease unmortgageable?
Leasehold conveyancing in Merton is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:
-
A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party. A duty to insure the building
A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Aldermore all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.
Leasehold Conveyancing in Merton - Examples of Queries before buying
-
The best form of lease structure is where the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the lessees have control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is frequently retained where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. The majority of Merton leasehold apartments will have a service bill for maintenance of the block set by the freeholder. If you acquire the property you will have to pay this liability, normally periodically during the year. This could differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a significant sum, say around £25-£75 but you should to enquire as sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds. Where a Merton lease has less than 80 years it will impact the value of the apartment. Check with your mortgage company that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the premises for 24 months in order to be eligible to carry out a lease extension.
When it comes to my conveyancing in Merton should I be paying VAT on the following: (1) Land reg fee on purchase (2) Pre - completion search fee (3) SDLT E submission on purchase (4) Bank TT fee
(1) Land reg fee on purchase - No (2) Pre - completion search fees -No, (such conveyancing searches are HMLR ones and means £4 and possibly £2 bankruptcy per name on your mortgage) (3) SDLT E submission on your purchase - There is no VAT on Stamp Duty. However if the firm is charging a stamp duty e-submission fee as part of their services - some Merton conveyancers do - that will incur VAT(4) Bank transfer fee - Yes it is for the property lawyer's time in submitting the funds this way.