The Swiss Cottage conveyancing firm handling our Swiss Cottage conveyancing has uncovered a discrepancy when comparing the assumptions in the valuation report and what is in the conveyancing documents. My lawyer says that he needs to check that the lender is OK with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my lawyer’s approach right?
Your lawyer must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
It is a dozen years since I purchased my home in Swiss Cottage. Conveyancing lawyers have now been instructed on the sale but I am unable to track down my title deeds. Is this a problem?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly the deeds may be kept by the mortgage company or they could stored with the conveyancers who oversaw your purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to establish that you own the property by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining current official copies of the land registers. The vast majority of conveyancing in Swiss Cottage relates to registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is unregistered it is more tricky but is resolvable.
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Skipton. Swiss Cottage conveyancing lawyers have been selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Skipton?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have Skipton completed the survey? Have you informed Skipton as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Skipton conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
I am buying a property in Swiss Cottage. An unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Co-operative have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?
As you are obtaining a mortgage with Co-operative your lawyer must comply with the formal instructions set out in Section two of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Co-operative. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook stipulates minimum conditions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Co-operative where a lease fails to satisfy these specifications. The provisions relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not isolated to Swiss Cottage.
My wife and I are in the throws of viewing flats in Swiss Cottage and I am now considering a potential offer. Should I already have a conveyancing practitioner appointed at this stage? I will be getting a mortgage with Nottingham.
You should start requesting conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the selling agent. Given that you are taking out a mortgage with Nottingham, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Nottingham conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my house are lost. The solicitors who conducted the conveyancing in Swiss Cottage 5 years ago no longer exist. What are my next steps?
You no longer need to hold title official documentation to establish that you are the registered proprietor of land or property, as the Land Registry hold details of all registered land or property electronically.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one near me in Swiss Cottage I like with open areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Swiss Cottage in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a lease with such few years left?
If you require a home loan that many years may be an issue. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the property for at least 2 years you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £375,000 apartment in Swiss Cottage next week. The managing agents has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Swiss Cottage?
Swiss Cottage conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually involves the buyer’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be content to assist. They are at liberty to charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.
I inherited a ground floor flat in Swiss Cottage. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum due for a lease extension?
in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or where 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 calculate the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Swiss Cottage residence is First Floor Flat 20 Fitzjohns Avenue in July 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premiums to be paid for new leases in respect of the Raised Ground Floor Flat and the First Floor Flat were to be calculated as: Raised Ground Floor: £765,175.14 First Floor: £601,617.77 This case related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 16.83 and 16.43.