My husband and I are planning to acquire a flat in Stanwell and have instructed a Stanwell conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Birmingham Midshires have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Stanwell solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Stanwell lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
It is is a decade since I acquired my house in Stanwell. Conveyancing solicitors have recently been retained on the sale but I am unable to find the deeds. Will this jeopardise the sale?
You need not be too concerned. First there is a possibility that the deeds will be retained by your lender or they could still be with the conveyancers who handled your purchase. Secondly in most cases the title will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors acquiring current official copies of the land registers. Almost all conveyancing in Stanwell relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your home is unregistered it is more tricky but is not insurmountable.
Due to the guidance of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Stanwell before retaining lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor has said that some banks may not give a loan on this type of property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different requirements for example to Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Stanwell. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
What does commercial conveyancing in Stanwell cover?
Commercial conveyancing in Stanwell covers a broad range of guidance, given by qualified solicitors, relating to business premises. For instance, this type of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more commonly, the transfer of existing business tenancies or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial mortgages and the termination of leases.
I need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor for remortgage conveyancing in Stanwell. I have chance upon a site which looks to be the perfect offering If it is possible to get all formalities completed via phone that would be ideal. Do I need to be wary? What are the potential pitfalls?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Stanwell where we see a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Stanwell conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.
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.
I am the registered owner of a garden flat in Stanwell. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount payable for a lease extension?
if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to make a decision on the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Stanwell premises is 147 Redford Close in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the lease extension premium to be at £4,200 This case affected 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 82.93 years.