As someone clueless as to the Wembley conveyancing process what is the number one tip you can impart concerning the legal transfer of property in Wembley
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Wembley or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists lots of room for conflict between you and other parties involved in the ownership transfer. E.g., the seller, estate agent and sometimes your mortgage company. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Wembley an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE person in the legal process whose role it is to protect your legal interests and to protect you.
We are witnessing a worrying emergence in the "blame" culture- someone must be blamed for the process being so protracted. You must always trust your lawyer above the other parties in the conveyancing process.
I just bought a house at auction in Wembley. Conveyancing is necessary. What happens now?
Now that you are exchanged you must appoint a conveyancing lawyer soon as you are faced with a fast approaching a drop dead date to complete the deal. An auction property will have a bespoke auction pack. This should include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. In the case of leasehold property the conveyancing papers should provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation pertinent to leasehold premises. You should hand this to the conveyancer working for you ASAP. Do make sure that you have funds organised to complete on the date specified in the contract.
It is unclear whether my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have called my Wembley bank branch on various occasions and was told it does not impact the mortgage offer and they would lend. My Wembley conveyancing solicitor - who is on the lender conveyancing panel- telephoned to say that they refuse to lend in accordance with their specific requirements. I have no idea who is right.
Your property lawyer must comply with the CML Handbook section two provisions for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Wembley. My financial adviser suggested a solicitor. I paid an on account payment of £225. Soon after, the property lawyer contacted me to say that they were not on the UBS conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the UBS panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
How does conveyancing in Wembley differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Wembley contact us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is ready to move into. This is because developers in Wembley typically acquire the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Wembley or who has acted in the same development.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Wembley before instructing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold element to the property. The surveyor advised that some mortgage companies may not grant a mortgage on a flying freehold home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different instructions from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Wembley. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Wembley to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
My father-in-law has suggested that I instruct his conveyancers in Wembley. Do I follow his advice?
No doubt it’s preferable to choose a conveyancing lawyer is to get recommendations from friends or family who have actually experience in using the conveyancer that you are are thinking of instructing.
I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Wembley where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Wembley conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.
Having spent months of negotiations we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Wembley. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Wembley conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Wembley property is Ground Floor Flat 79 London Road in September 2012. the Tribunal held that the premium payable for the lease extension should be £7,636 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 74 years.