I am need of leasehold conveyancing for a flat in a fairly new development (seven years old) in St Paul's Cray. Almost all the properties are already occupied. Is it strictly necessary to order neighbourhood searches for my conveyancing in St Paul's Cray?
You would be opening yourself up to an unnecessary risk in not carrying out St Paul's Cray conveyancing searches. Without searches you have no clarity over flooding, environmental etc which may mean you walk away due to potential problems down the line. If you are buying without a mortgage there is no legal requirement to have them, but we would strongly advise in the strongest possible terms that your lawyer conducts them. If timings and driving down costs are top of your concerns you should consider with your conveyancer about the options such as indemnity insurance available to you
I have been told that property searches are a common reason for hinderance in St Paul's Cray conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the top 10 causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Searches are unlikely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in St Paul's Cray.
My wife and I own a 4 bedroom Victorian house in St Paul's Cray. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and TSB. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in St Paul's Cray and other locations in 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 mortgage companies. You can also question the position with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.
I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in St Paul's Cray prior to retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks will not issue a mortgage on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements for example to Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in St Paul's Cray. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in St Paul's Cray to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
How easy is it to swap firm as I need to instruct one who is on the Nationwide Building Society conveyancing list. I instructed a local conveyancing solicitor in St Paul's Cray round the corner but he is not approved by Nationwide Building Society
It would be our pleasure to assist you select a conveyancing solicitor in St Paul's Cray on the Nationwide Building Society panel. Please note that the solicitors that we on the directory do not pay us a referral fee if you instruct them and are fully regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority who oversee all conveyancing solicitors in St Paul's Cray. In making use of search facility on this site, you can compare and instruct different solicitors and conveyancers both nationally and in St Paul's Cray.
Last October I purchased a leasehold flat in St Paul's Cray. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
Having spent months of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in St Paul's Cray. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a St Paul's Cray conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a St Paul's Cray property is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined 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 £30,541 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 50.57 years.