My son-in-law is in the process of securing a newly built flat in West Brompton with a mortgage from Santander. His lawyer has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?
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 valuer 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 see that you have a search directory listing solicitors on the RBS conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I instruct them for our conveyancing in West Brompton?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the RBS conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in West Brompton.
Will my conveyancing lawyers need to check that the building insurance when buying a house in West Brompton. My lender is Virgin
Virgin have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. As of 9/1/2026, the requirements read as follows :
Over the last few months I have been searching for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and found one round the corner in West Brompton I like with a park and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in West Brompton suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?
If you require a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be an issue. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.
I've recently bought a leasehold property in West Brompton. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such issues? Can you recommend a West Brompton conveyancing firm to help?
Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a West Brompton conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a West Brompton flat is 5 Wetherby Gardens in June 2014. the Tribunal concluded that the price to be paid for the freehold of the property was £2,369,452. This case was in relation to 5 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 38.98 years.
My property lawyer in West Brompton is asking me for identification documents saying that this is part of his obligations as a conveyancer on the lender Solicitor panel. Is this right?
Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require West Brompton conveyancing solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the identity of the person or body they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing business. The Client Care letter that you need to sign will no doubt confirm this. Your lawyer is right that the mortgage company also require certain documents to be viewed. If a you refuse to provide ID verification documents, your conveyancer would not be able to accept instructions from you. Your lawyer also has obligations to obtain certain documents in accordance with the lender's UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements