The sellers of the house we are hoping to buy have instructed a conveyancing solicitor in South West London who has recommended a exclusivity agreement with a down payment of 5k. Are such agreements generally advanced for South West London conveyancing transactions?
Exclusivity contracts are contracts binding a property owner and purchaser granting the buyer a ‘clear field’ to the sale of the property within an agreed time frame. For all intents and purposes, a lock out agreement is a contract specifying that you will be issued with a contract at a later time being the main conveyancing contract. It tends to be used for buyer confidence though in many situations, the seller may stand to benefit from such agreements as well. There are various positives and negatives to having an agreement but you need to check with your conveyancer but beware that it may end up costing you extra in conveyancing charges. In light of these reasons these contracts are avoided in relation to conveyancing in South West London.
The South West London conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in South West London have without warning closed. I only went with them because I had to have a lawyer on the Principality conveyancing panel and my family South West London lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What are my options?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Principality 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.
Should our lawyer be raising questions about flooding as part of the conveyancing in South West London.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers dealing with homes in South West London. Some people will acquire a property in South West London, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Lawyers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that may be undertaken by the purchaser or by their conveyancers which will give them a better understanding of the risks in South West London. The conventional set of property information forms supplied to a buyer’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a usual question of the owner to discover if the property has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred which is not disclosed by the seller, then a buyer could bring a compensation claim as a result of such an inaccurate response. The purchaser’s lawyers may also commission an enviro report. This should reveal whether there is any known flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries will need to be initiated.
I have a semi-detached Victorian property in South West London. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Nottingham Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to review 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 West London and other areas of 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 lenders. You can also check the position with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build apartment in South West London. Conveyancing is a frightening process at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. What sort of enquires would be asked in new build legal work.
Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build enquiries that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in South West London
-
Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. Please supply a car parking plan. Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in South West London in advance of retaining conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor advised that some banks tend refuse to grant a loan on such a property.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different instructions from Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in South West London. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in South West London to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.