IfI was to buy a straightforward propertyin St John's Wood for cash and dispense with a survey and no conveyancing searches how much could I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in St John's Wood?
The only reduction in fees you would achieve is the disbursement for searches. The conveyancing practitioner is obliged to do the vast majority of work - money laundering, liaising with the sellers lawyer, stamp duty submission, register the title etc. A marginal saving might be made by not having to register a charge but it will not be a lot.
I am helping my niece sell her property in St John's Wood. Will the solicitor order an EPC or it is for me to see to?
After the demise of Home Packs, energy assessments was kept a required element of selling a house. An energy assessment must be to hand prior to the property being put on the market. This is not as aspect of the sale process that lawyers ordinarily arrange. If you are instructing a St John's Wood conveyancing solicitor they might be able to arrange energy performance certificates given their relationships with reputable local energy assessors
Have just purchased a probate house at auction in St John's Wood. Conveyancing is needed. What happens now?
Given that you have now to in every practical sense signed on the dotted line you should instruct a conveyancing practitioner as a matter of priority as you now have a fast approaching a fixed date to complete the deal. An auction property will ordinarily have an associated legal set of papers. This will likely include evidence of title and search results. In the case of leasehold premises the auction pack may include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation relating to a leasehold property. You should hand this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor at the earliest opportunity. Do make sure that you have funds in order to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in St John's Wood. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
It has been three months following my purchase conveyancing in St John's Wood completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the property from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
How does conveyancing in St John's Wood differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in St John's Wood come to us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is finished. This is because house builders in St John's Wood tend to acquire the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in St John's Wood or who has acted in the same development.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I have offered on last month in what should have been a quick, no chain conveyancing. St John's Wood is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in St John's Wood are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside St John's Wood you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in St John's Wood may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
Is it best to appoint a St John's Wood conveyancing lawyer who is local to the property I am buying? We have a good friend who can execute the conveyancing but her office is approximately 350kilometers away.
The primary upside of using a high street St John's Wood conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to execute paperwork, hand in your ID and pester them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a plus. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If if people you trust used your friend and they were happy that should trump using an unfamiliar St John's Wood conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being St John's Wood based.