My fiancee and I are at the point of viewing houses in Penge and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it best to have a property lawyer on ‘stand by’? I intend to finance via a home loan with Nationwide.
You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the estate agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Nationwide, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Penge. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £150. A few days later, the lawyer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Principality conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Principality panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I was told four 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 Penge is approved on their conveyancing panel? Nottingham have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage 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.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years past for my conveyancing in Penge. Now, I need my files however the law firm has closed. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Penge of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I'm purchasing a new build house in Penge with the aid of help to buy. The builders refused to move on the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The estate agent told me not reveal to my solicitor about this deal as it would adversely affect my mortgage with the bank. 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.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Penge is the location of the property. Can you offer any opinion?
Flying freeholds in Penge are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Penge you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Penge may decide 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 residence.
My step-father has urged me to use his conveyancers in Penge. Do I take his advice?
Much as we are happy to recommend a Penge conveyancing lawyer the best way to find a conveyancing lawyer is to get guidance from friends or family who have actually experience in using the conveyancer you're contemplating using.
Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Penge conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?
If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Penge conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggest that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Penge conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. The following questions might be helpful:
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If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason? How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
After months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Penge. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Penge conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Penge flat is Flats 5, 9, 38 & 40 Blakewood Court Anerley Park in January 2012. the tribunal held that the premiums payable for the new lease sare: FLAT 5:- £7,130 FLAT 9:- £7,860 FLAT 38:- £15,867 FLAT 40: £14,834 This case affected 4 flats.