My husband and I are purchasing a 2 bedroom apartment in North Kensington with a mortgage. We have a North Kensington conveyancer, however the bank advise she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel conveyancing practices or retain our North Kensington property lawyer and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. We feel that this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your North Kensington conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
We are a couple about to exchange contracts for a freehold house in North Kensington. We have hit a snag. Our loan offer with HSBC Bank runs out on 15/9/2025 but the vendors are insisting on a completion date of 17/9/2025. Is it possible to prolong the mortgage expiry date?
The person best placed to address this question is your solicitors who will hopefully calculate whether they better off negotiating with the mortgage broker, owner’s representatives, selling agents or conceivably all three taking into account what has happend in your transaction as of today.
Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in North Kensington costs more?
The conveyancing charges on a leasehold premises in North Kensington is inevitably greater when contrasted to a freehold residence. This is because there is an amount of supplemental investigations required in corresponding with the landlord and management company to obtain evidence about whether the rent and maintenance fee have been paid and whether there are any large sums expected to be spent in the near future on repairs or maintenance of the building.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £235,500 and identified one near me in North Kensington I like with open areas and transport links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in North Kensington suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a home loan that many years may be a potential deal breaker. Reduce the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.
I am looking into buying my first house which is in North Kensington and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about North Kensington. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the North Kensington area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at North Kensington. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found
We are midway through purchasing a property in North Kensington. Conveyancing solicitor has told us the title is "Leasehold". Should this make a difference on the marketability of the house?
North Kensington conveyancing does not ordinarily involve leasehold houses. The crucial factor here is the length of lease and the ground rent. If it's 999 years with a peppercorn rent, it's virtually freehold, so it’s unlikely to impact the saleability too much.
At the other end of the spectrum, if it's, say, fifty five years it is bound to have a significant impact on the value, and probably wouldn't be mortgageable. The remaining lease term and ground rent will be stated in the lease which should be made available to your solicitor.