I am selling my maisonette in Thamesmead and the EA has just called to say that the buyers are switching conveyancer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a leading lender only deal with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Thamesmead ?
Banks have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
Our son is purchasing a new build apartment in Thamesmead with a mortgage from Santander. His lawyer has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Santander conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when requested. 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 Santander conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
We are planning to acquire a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in Thamesmead who is on the RBS solicitor panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for RBS . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Thamesmead.
We're in Thamesmead, FTBs purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Coventry BS , and our solicitor is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no property lawyer should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
I have recently realised that I have Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Thamesmead. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?
On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Thamesmead.
I own a ground floor flat in Thamesmead. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium due for the purchase of the freehold?
Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Thamesmead conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Thamesmead property is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The unexpired term was 76 years.
Two months into a sale of a flat in Thamesmead. Conveyancing is fine but we have been asked to pay a fortune by the freeholder. So far we have issued a cheque for £237 for a leasehold management pack and then another £134.40 for supplemental questions raised by the purchaser's property lawyer.
Neither you or your conveyancer will have any impact over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Thamesmead leasehold property is £350. For Thamesmead conveyancing transactions it is standard for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are not duty bound to address these questions although many will be willing to do so - albeit often at high prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Regretfully there is no law that requires capped charges for administrative tasks. Nor is there any legal time frame by which they are duty bound to supply answers.