Why is leasehold purchase conveyancing in Wembley costs more?
Wembley leasehold conveyancing transactions usually involve additional investigations than freeholds including investigating the Lease, liaising with the Landlord such as serving applicable notices on the Landlord or managing agent, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining Landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts and formation documents.
We're in Wembley, First time buyers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Virgin Money , and our lawyer is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancing practitioner 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.
Should my conveyancer be raising enquiries about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Wembley.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors dealing with homes in Wembley. There are those who acquire a house in Wembley, fully expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical damage, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or sell the property. Steps can be carried out as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Solicitors are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, however there are a various checks that can be initiated by the purchaser or by their conveyancers which will give them a better appreciation of the risks in Wembley. The standard property information forms given to a purchaser’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a standard question of the owner to discover if the property has ever been flooded. If flooding has previously occurred which is not notified by the vendor, then a purchaser could bring a claim for damages as a result of such an incorrect response. A buyer’s conveyancers should also order an enviro report. This will higlight whether there is any known flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations should be conducted.
I am buying a new build house in Wembley with a loan from Nottingham Building Society. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not inform my solicitor about the side-deal as it could affect my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I opted to have a survey completed on a house in Wembley prior to instructing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. The surveyor advised that some banks may not issue a loan on a flying freehold property.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different instructions from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Wembley. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I was pointed in your direction by three or four local property agents in Wembley to find a solicitor using your seach tool. What’s the financial upside for Estate Agents to recommend your lawyers over a competitor’s?
We refuse to give any commission for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission as members of the public would think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.