Just been in touch with my conveyancing solicitor in Temple who conducted the legals two years ago requesting a conveyancing estimate based on the same type of house sale & purchase (a leasehold property and a freehold premises) of similar values with a loan from Skipton Building Society. I am now being charged double. Should I hunt for a cheaper online firm of conveyancing solicitor?
The costs illustration is fractionally on the high side. If you shop around you could trim some of the expense by as much as £100 plus VAT. That being said, providing that you were satisfied with the service the firm offered you maycome to rue opting for an an unknown lawyer. If is important to ensure the conveyancer can act for Skipton Building Society. You can use our search tool to choose a Temple conveyancing firm on the Skipton Building Society member panel, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in Temple.
My son is about to exchange on a new build apartment in Temple with a mortgage from Aldermore. His lawyer has said that there is a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Aldermore conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
What happens if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the Principality Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Temple?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
My wife and I are close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our home in Temple and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. Any local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the buyers are using a national conveyancing firm rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Temple. Having lived in Temple for six years we know of no issue. Should we contact our local Authority to obtain confirmation need.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)
Me and my brother have a terraced Victorian house in Temple. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Skipton Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the matching address. Is it worth asking Skipton Building Society to clarify?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for 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 Temple and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the position with the conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
My wife and I may need to rent out our Temple garden flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Temple conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?
Some leases for properties in Temple do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such issues? Can you recommend a Temple conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?
in cases where there is a absentee landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Temple property is Flat 89 Trinity Court Grays Inn Road in February 2013. the Tribunal found that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 should be £36,229. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 66.8 years.