My husband and I are looking to buy a home in Osterley and have instructed a Osterley conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. TSB have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Osterley solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Osterley lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
We are getting the release of further funds on our home loan from Leeds Building Society as we wish to conduct a loft conversion to our house in Osterley. Are we obliged to choose a high street Osterley solicitor on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
Leeds Building Society don't usually instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to handle the formalities. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Leeds Building Society panel.
I currently have a mortgage with Nottingham for my property in Osterley. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Nottingham?
Nottingham must be informed of your intention prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nottingham’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Nottingham directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Nottingham conveyancing panel lawyer.
I was told three weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Nottingham. Is it usual for Nottingham to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Osterley is approved on their conveyancing panel? Nottingham have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Nottingham to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
What will a local search reveal about the house I am purchasing in Osterley?
Osterley conveyancing often commences with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company such as Xpress Legal The local search is essential in every Osterley conveyancing purchase; that is if you don’t want any nasty once you have moved into your new home. The search will supply information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen subject headings.
I am buying a new build apartment in Osterley. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Osterley
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Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Please supply a car parking plan. If there are lifts in the building, please confirm that the owners of flats on the ground and basement floors will not be required to contribute towards the cost of maintenance and renewal. Please supply evidence that the form of Lease proposed has been approved by the Land Registry.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on last month in what should have been a simple, no chain conveyancing. Osterley is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Osterley are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Osterley you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Osterley may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Osterley which have in the region of fifty years unexpired on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Osterley is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the premises. For most buyers and banks, leases with under 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Osterley conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
Having spent years of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Osterley. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Most definitely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Osterley conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Osterley flat is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 60.45 years.