My Conveyancer in Mill Hill is not on the Godiva Mortgages Ltd Approved Panel. Can I still retain my family solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the Godiva Mortgages Ltd panel?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your preferred Mill Hill lawyers but Godiva Mortgages Ltd will need to use a conveyancer on their panel. This will result in additional total conveyancing charges as well as result in frustration.
- Choose an alternative practitioner to act in the conveyancing, obviously checking they are Persuade your solicitor to use their best endeavours to join the Godiva Mortgages Ltd conveyancing panel
We previously chose conveyancing lawyers with offices in Mill Hill on the Leeds Building Society solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a separate fee for the legal aspects of the Leeds Building Society mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Leeds Building Society?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your conveyancer is entitled to charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Leeds Building Society but by your Mill Hill conveyancer. Numerous firms on the Leeds Building Society panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Mill Hill. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Team at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.
I am selling my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in July 2010, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Barclays are being difficult. The Mill Hill solicitor who is on the Barclays conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but Barclays are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Barclays have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Barclays have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Barclays may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
Me and my brother purchased a terraced Georgian property in Mill Hill. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Godiva Mortgages Ltd. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to assess 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 Mill Hill and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Mill Hill ahead of instructing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor advised that some lenders will refuse to grant a mortgage on a flying freehold house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. If you e-mail us we can check with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Mill Hill. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I have been sourcing a conveyancing lawyer in Mill Hill for my house move. Is there any facility to check a firm’s record with the legal regulator?
Anyone may see documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions stemming from investigations commenced on or after 1 January 2008. Go to Check a solicitor's record. For details Pre 2008, or to check a solicitors history, call 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. International callers, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator sometimes recorded telephone calls for training purposes.
Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Mill Hill from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Mill Hill can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers’ lawyers. The majority of landlords or managing agents in Mill Hill levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Mill Hill. If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than unsettled. In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Mill Hill leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you dont have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.
I am the proprietor of a ground floor flat in Mill Hill. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium due for the purchase of the freehold?
if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to arrive at the amount due.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Mill Hill residence is Ground Floor Maisonette 17 Milton Road in January 2014. The Tribunal determined the premium payable by the Applicant to the should be £13,299 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 71.73 years.