I am purchasing a house mortgage free in Ravenscourt Park. I have resided for the last Seventeen years in Ravenscourt Park. Conveyancing searches are a lot of money. As I have knowledge of the road and vicinity intimately should I not bother getting the solicitor to do all the conveyancing searches?
In the absence of a mortgage, then almost all of the Ravenscourt Park conveyancing searches are non-obligatory. Your conveyancer will try and sway you, perhaps strongly, that you should have searches completed, but she is duty bound to take that path of advice. One thing to take into account; if you are intend to sell the house one day, it may be of relevance to your future purchaser what the searches determine. There are plenty of instances where premises with functional issues can still show up unexpected search results. A good conveyancing solicitor in Ravenscourt Park will provide you some constructive advice in this regard.
When does exchange of contracts happen for sale conveyancing in Ravenscourt Park and do I need to be at the lawyers branch?
Where you are in close proximity to our conveyancing solicitors in Ravenscourt Park you are invited in to sign contracts. That being said, the law practices we recommend supply a countrywide conveyancing service and provide as equally comprehensive and professional a job for you when dealing with you by post or email. The signing of the purchase agreement is not when everything is set in stone. A signed contract simply enables the firm to address the formalities when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where a long "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Ravenscourt Park)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
I have 7378 less than 75 years unexpired on my lease and need a lease extension for my apartment in Ravenscourt Park. Conveyancing solicitors on the The Mortgage Works panel can deal with such extensions correct?
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 25/3/2026 the requirements read as follows :
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 70 years
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 70 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn ground rent (annual rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any new build properties completed but not sold pre 30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the lease conforms to the above guidance
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years
LEASE EXTENSIONS
We require all lease extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to the Issuing Office
Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
My wife and I have a renovated Georgian house in Ravenscourt Park. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Barclays Direct. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should 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 Ravenscourt Park and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they sell they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the position with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the conveyancing.
I am purchasing my first flat in Ravenscourt Park benefiting from help to buy. The developers refused to reduce the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not disclose to my conveyancer about this side-deal as it will affect my mortgage with Nationwide Building Society. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer 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.
I am 17 days into a freehold purchase having been referred to conveyancers by the high street agent to carry out the conveyancing in Ravenscourt Park. I am not happy. Could you you assist me in finding new solicitors?
They would have to be very bad to suggest replacing them. Has your mortgage been issued? In the event that it has you must advise them of the replacement lawyer and get the offer are re-issued. The solicitor ideally needs to be on the lenders approved list to avoid supplemental fees and complications. So that should be your first question of the new conveyancers. The find a solicitor tool should help you find a bank approved conveyancer for your conveyancing in Ravenscourt Park