My partner and I are hoping to purchase a house in Pratt's Bottom and are in fact using a Pratt's Bottom conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Barnsley Building Society have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Pratt's Bottom lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Pratt's Bottom lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Please could you vouch for a National Westminster Bank allowed Pratt's Bottom conveyancing firm finish our home move within 10 days? Would it be better to use a local Pratt's Bottom conveyancer or a web based comparison site?
We can recommend some very good Pratt's Bottom conveyancing firms. You can also walk up the high street in Pratt's Bottom. Approach two or three law practices and request to speak with a conveyancing solicitor for a costs illustration. Explain your deadline together with the reasons and get a commitment on your deadline. Select the lawyer that you trust.
I used Wolstenholmes several years past for my conveyancing in Pratt's Bottom. Now, I need my files but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
You should call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing 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 Pratt's Bottom of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £305k and identified one near me in Pratt's Bottom I like with amenity areas and transport links nearby, however it's only got 52 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Pratt's Bottom in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake purchasing a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.
How straightforward is it to use your search app to locate a conveyancing practitioner in Pratt's Bottom on the panel for my bank?
First select a mortgage company such as National Westminster Bank, Barnsley Building Society or Barclays Direct then choose your location e.g. Pratt's Bottom. Conveyancing organisations in Pratt's Bottom and across England and Wales should be listed.
My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Pratt's Bottom. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Pratt's Bottom who acted for me is not around. What should I do?
First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Pratt's Bottom conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
Despite our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Pratt's Bottom. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
if there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide the amount due.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Pratt's Bottom premises is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case related to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 50.57 years.