The Soho conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Soho have without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I needed a firm on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel and my previous Soho lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. What are my options?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to assist.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Soho?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Soho. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
I have been on the look out for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and identified one near me in Soho I like with a park and station in the vicinity, however it's only got 52 years on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Soho in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be an issue. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current owner has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you can request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.
As co-executor for the will of my grandfather I am selling a residence in Newport but reside in Soho. My conveyancer (who is 250 miles from meneeds me to execute a statutory declaration before the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing lawyer in Soho to attest and place their company stamp on the document?
strictly speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are Soho based
I am looking at a two flats in Soho both have approximately forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Soho is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Soho conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
I have had difficulty in negotiating a lease extension in Soho. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Soho conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Soho flat is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 73.26 years.
How much experience do your Soho conveyancing solicitors have with Help To Buy, Shared Equity and similar schemes?
Soho conveyancing lawyers help thousands of people move home every year and helped plenty of clients through the Help To Buy scheme. The chances are that whatever makes your case unique Soho conveyancers have worked on recent similar cases.