My husband and I are hoping to purchase a house in Peckham and are in fact using a Peckham conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Birmingham Midshires have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Peckham solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers 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 property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Peckham lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
AssumingI was to buy a freehold homein Peckham mortgage fee and have no survey and no local authority searches how much could I expect to to save on my conveyancing in Peckham?
Any savings you would gain would be limited to the Peckham conveyancing searches. A property lawyer is required to do the vast majority of work - money laundering, communicating with the vendors conveyancing practitioner, SDLT submission, register the title etc. A marginal saving might be made by not having to register a charge however it will not be significant.
As someone with no idea as to the Peckham conveyancing process what is the number one tip you can give me concerning the legal transfer of property in Peckham
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Peckham or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of opportunity for confrontation between you and others involved in the house moving process. For example, the vendor, estate agent and even potentially a mortgage company. Appointing a law firm for your conveyancing in Peckham an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE person in the process whose interest is to protect your legal interests and to keep you safe.
On occasion a third party with a vested interest may try and persuade you that it is in your interests to do things their way. For instance, the property agent may claim to be helping by claiming that your solicitor is wrong. Or your mortgage broker may try to convince you to do take action that is against your solicitors guidance. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
A friend suggested that where I am purchasing in Peckham 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 Peckham conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Peckham around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Peckham Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Peckham.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £305k and identified one close by in Peckham I like with open areas and railway links nearby, however it only has 61 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Peckham suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
Due to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Peckham. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Peckham should include some of the following:
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Repair and maintenance of the flat Ground rent - how much and when is collected, and be on notice if this will change in the future Your solicitors should enable you to have an understanding of the building insurance provisions specifics of the parties to the lease, e.g. these could be the tennant, superior lessor, landlord You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
Despite our best efforts, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Peckham. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
Where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the price payable.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Peckham property is 31 Kings Grove in January 2012. By a claim form issued on 11" August 2011 under action number 1LB01618 in the Lambeth County Court the applicant tenants sought dispensation under section 26 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 from the requirement to serve a notice under section 13 of that Act in order to purchase the freehold of the premises. The Tribunal decided the amount payable for the freehold as £10,728 This case affected 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 80.5 years.