Completed the sale of my flat in Watford last April yet the purchaser is SMS messaging daily to say their solicitor is waiting to hear from mine. What are the post completion sale formalities now that I have sold?
Following your disposal your conveyancer should deliver the transfer documentation and all supplemental paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. If applicable, your conveyancer must also evidence that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been paid off to the buyers solicitors. There are no post completion steps specific conveyancing in Watford.
My relative advised me that if I am buying in Watford I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Watford conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Watford around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Watford Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Watford.
2 months have gone by since my purchase conveyancing in Watford concluded. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Watford is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Watford are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Watford you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Watford may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £325,000 garden flat in Watford next Monday. The freeholder has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Watford?
For most leasehold sales in Watford conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :
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Completing pre-contract enquiries
Where consent is required before sale in Watford
Supplying insurance information
Deeds of covenant upon sale
Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale
Following months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Watford. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
if there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to make a decision on the price payable.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Watford property is Flats 8, 11 and 15 Craigmore Court 46 Murray Road in December 2013. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 8 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,438 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenants of Flat 11 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,791 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 15 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,638 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . This case related to 3 flats. The unexpired lease term was 71 years.
Our conveyancer in Watford has discovered a a legal deficiency with the lease for the flat we are buying in Watford. The seller’s lawyers have offered defective title insurance as a solution. We are content with insurance and will pay for it. Our solicitor says that as he is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel he must ensure that the lender is happy with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the mortgage company are the client. A precondition to being on the lender approved panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that the bank can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . 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.