We are only a couple days away from an exchange on a flat in South Kensington and my mum and dad have transferred the ten percent deposit to my conveyancer. I am now advised that as the deposit has not arrived from me my solicitor needs to make a notification to my lender. Apparently, in also acting for the mortgage company he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I informed the lender concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really appropriate for him to raise this?
The conveyancer is duty bound to clarify with mortgage company to ensure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. Your solicitor can only disclose this to your mortgage company if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
Are the South Kensington conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Kent Reliance?
South Kensington conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Kent Reliance directly.
I had intended to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in South Kensington for our home move. Our broker informed us that our mortgage company Birmingham Midshires won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unfair competition?
A lender will insist on a panel solicitor act for it. You would be expected to meet the cost of this. Please make use of our directory service to locate a solicitor to conduct conveyancing in South Kensington on the Birmingham Midshires conveyancing panel.
Should my conveyancer be raising enquiries regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in South Kensington.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for lawyers carrying out conveyancing in South Kensington. There are those who purchase a property in South Kensington, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical damage, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable building insurance, or sell the premises. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Lawyers are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that can be initiated by the buyer or on a buyer’s behalf which should give them a better understanding of the risks in South Kensington. The standard property information forms sent to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a usual question of the owner to determine whether the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that the premises has been flooded in past which is not notified by the vendor, then a buyer could issue a compensation claim resulting from an misleading answer. The buyer’s solicitors should also order an enviro search. This should reveal if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional inquiries will need to be conducted.
Me and my brother own a semi-detached Edwardian house in South Kensington. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Platform Home Loans Ltd. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should assess 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 South Kensington and other areas of 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 purchasers. You can also question the position with the conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.
I work for a busy estate agent office in South Kensington where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local South Kensington conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.
Following months of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in South Kensington. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute 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 determine the amount due.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a South Kensington premises is Flat 16 21/22 Stanhope Gardens in November 2010. the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal concluded 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 £106,975 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 51.93 years.