My husband and I are buying a 1 bedroom apartment in Northwood with a mortgage. We have a Northwood solicitor, however the lender says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the lender panel solicitors or continue with our Northwood lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel firms to represent them. We regard this is inequitable; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you 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. Another option that might be available is for your Northwood conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
We were just about to exchange contracts for a property in Northwood. We have hit a problem. The mortgage offer with Santander runs out on 1/8/2025 but the vendors are putting forward a completion date of 5/8/2025. Is it possible to extend the mortgage expiry date?
The person best placed to deal with your concern is your lawyer who will hopefully assess if they should be discussing with the lender, vendor’s solicitors, selling agents or conceivably all three given what has happend in your conveyancing to date.
My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Northwood. Conveyancing is needed. What are my next steps?
Given that you have now legally bound yourself to purchase you will need to appoint a conveyancing practitioner soon as you will have a fast approaching a fixed date to complete the property. Every auction property will have an associated auction set of papers. This will likely include most,if not all of the documents that your lawyer will need. Where you are dealing with leasehold premises the auction pack should include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation specific to leasehold premises. You should give this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding in order to complete on the date specified in the contract.
is it true that all Northwood solicitors on the TSB conveyancing panel are overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the TSB conveyancing panel they would need to be governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many banks do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel and in that case the practice would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
Kent Reliance have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a apartment in Northwood has been agreed to, now what?
Your estate agent will need to be advised as to your property lawyer's details (ensure that the lawyers are on the bank’s approved list). Contact Kent Reliance or your broker and complete any outstanding forms. Kent Reliance will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or owners to arrange a slot for the valuation to take place. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes on average a week to get a mortgage offer. Kent Reliance will send the offer to you and your solicitors. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Northwood.
I have todaybeen informed that Wolstenholmes have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Northwood for a purchase of a freehold house 12 months ago. How can I be sure that the property is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?
The easiest method to check if the premises is in your name, you can make a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Northwood conveyancing specialists.
I'm purchasing a new build house in Northwood with a mortgage from HSBC Bank. The sellers would not move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The estate agent advised me not inform my solicitor about this side-deal as it may adversely affect my loan with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently discovered that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Northwood. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Northwood ?
The majority of houses in Northwood are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Northwood so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Northwood conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to conduct alterations. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer will report to you on the legal implications.
I am the registered owner of a first floor flat in Northwood. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for a lease extension?
in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement 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 assess the price payable.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Northwood property is Flats 8, 11 and 15 Craigmore Court 46 Murray Road in December 2013. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 8 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,438 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenants of Flat 11 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,791 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 15 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,638 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . This case was in relation to 3 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 71 years.