Do the conveyancing solicitors that you recommend perform attended exchange conveyancing in Southwark?
We do have a number of conveyancing experts carrying out attended exchanges. You should call us to obtain a conveyancing quote and details as to dates.
My aunt passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Southwark. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £5k. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Leeds Building Society, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
Given you plan to refinance then Leeds Building Society will require that you use a conveyancer on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Leeds Building Society mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
My wife and I are buying a flat in Southwark. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a conveyancer? At some point we will need to deposit funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our money?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as FTB of a two bedroom flat in Southwark. Do I collect the keys to the property on completion from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will appoint a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Southwark?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will arrange to send the purchase money to the vendor’s solicitors, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be invited to pick up the keys from the selling Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.
My wife and I have organised the release of further monies on our home loan from Bank of Ireland as we intend to carry out alterations to our house in Southwark. Do we need to choose a local Southwark solicitor on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Bank of Ireland don't usually require firms on their conveyancing panel to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Bank of Ireland panel.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Southwark before retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor advised that some lenders may not grant a mortgage on a flying freehold premises.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different requirements from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Southwark. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
We expect to complete our sale of a £400,000 maisonette in Southwark in just under a week. The management company has quoted £372 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Southwark?
Southwark conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates the purchaser’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries most will be content to do so. They may levy a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.
My wife and I have hit a brick wall in negotiating a lease extension in Southwark. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Southwark conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Southwark property is 1-41 Royal Tower Lodge 40 Cartwright Street in April 2013. the tribunal adding the agreed value of capitalised ground rents and the reversion the price to be paid for the freehold was £1,187,000 This case was in relation to 41 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 107 years.
My 20yr old son is embarking on her first house purchase, he had his mortgage in principle. After the offer was accepted on apartment we rang the bank to issue the formal offer. I was disappointed to learn that mortgage lenders do not accept all conveyancer, they have to be on a list, is this right?
Banks tend to imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Southwark lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Probably not.