I am expecting a mortgage with Santander. I intend to use a Licensed Conveyancer in Pimlico. Does the Santander Solicitor panel allow for conveyancers regulated by the CLC?
The Santander approved solicitor list is, like many other lenders, associated to the Council or Mortgage Lenders or BSA, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the CLC.
What is the best way to investigate if the solicitor conducting my conveyancing in Pimlico is on the mortgage lender’sconveyancing panel? I am looking to avoid the situation of having one lawyer for me and one for Coventry Building Society thus spending £175.00 in additional legal bill.
Feel free to take advantage of the find a conveyancing panel solicitor tool on this site. Please choose the mortgage company and type ‘Pimlico’ or your preferred area and you will see a number of lawyer based in Pimlico or near you.
This question may be naive but I am new to the house moving as FTB of a garden flat in Pimlico. Do I pick up the keys to the house on completion from my lawyer? If so, I will appoint a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Pimlico?
On the day of completion you do not need to go to the conveyancers office in Pimlico. Your solicitors will transfer the completion advance to the vendor’s solicitors, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be called to receive the keys from the Estate Agents and move into your new home. Usually this occurs between 1 and 3pm.
My uncle advised me that in buying a property in Pimlico there may be various restrictions prohibiting external changes to the property. Is this right?
There are a number of properties in Pimlico which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to carry out external alterations. Part of the conveyancing in Pimlico should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
I've digested plenty of mortgage guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Pimlico solicitor - who is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?
Yorkshire BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Yorkshire BS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Pimlico postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Yorkshire BS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Pimlico.
My colleague recommended that if I am buying in Pimlico I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is occasionally included in the estimate for your Pimlico conveyancing searches. It is a large document of more than thirty pages, listing and detailing important information about Pimlico around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Pimlico Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Pimlico.
Me and my brother purchased a 4 bedroom Georgian house in Pimlico. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Aldermore. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Pimlico and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the position with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.
Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Pimlico conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?
When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Pimlico conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Pimlico conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. The following questions could be useful:
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What are the charges for lease extension conveyancing? Can they put you in touch with clients in Pimlico who can give a testimonial?
Having spent years of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Pimlico. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the price payable.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Pimlico residence is Flats 12A & 19, Evelyn Mansions Carlisle Place in June 2009. The Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the new lease of Flat 12A is £168,824, For the other flat the price was set at £169,110 This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term was 56 years.