My fiance and I are hoping to buy a flat in West Ealing and are in fact using a West Ealing conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Nationwide Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our West Ealing lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own West Ealing solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
My husband and I are buying a newly constructed apartment in West Ealing and my conveyancer is telling me that she has to the mortgage company to disclose incentives from the developer. I am under pressure to exchange and I have no desire to delay deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your lawyer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
Please help - my lawyer advises that restrictive coveneant insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the level of cover for West Ealing conveyancing?
The appropriate level of restrictive coveneant indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between Birmingham Midshires and Leeds Building Society. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.
I'm at the point of viewing houses in West Ealing and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it premature to have a solicitor in place? I intend to finance via a home loan with Aldermore.
It would be prudent to instigate your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the selling agent. As you are obtaining a mortgage with Aldermore, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Aldermore conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
I have instructed a West Ealing conveyancer having made sure that they are on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Coventry BS will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Coventry BS will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your West Ealing postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Coventry BS, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in West Ealing.
Me and my brother purchased a terraced Georgian house in West Ealing. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Coventry Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same property. Is it worth asking Coventry Building Society to clarify?
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in West Ealing and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the purchase.
My husband and I are novice buyers - had an offer accepted, but the estate agent informed us that the vendor will only go ahead if we appoint the agent's preferred lawyers as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a high street solicitor used to conveyancing in West Ealing
We suspect that the owner is unaware of this ultimatum. If they desire ‘a quick sale', alienating a serious purchaser is likely to cause more damage than good. Try to communicate with the sellers directly and make sure they understand (a)you are motivated buyers (b)you are ready to go, with finances in place © you are chain free (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you intend to use your own,trusted West Ealing conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will earn the negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or hit his conveyancing figures demanded by senior management.
Harry (my fiance) and I may need to rent out our West Ealing 1st floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a West Ealing conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?
Notwithstanding that your previous West Ealing conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek consent from your landlord or other appropriate person in advance of subletting. The net result is you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior permission. The consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.
Following months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in West Ealing. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a West Ealing conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a West Ealing premises is 6 Jessamine Road in August 2013. The Tribunals valuation (as annexed to the decision) calculated the amount payable as £18,355 for the freehold reversion This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term was 72.39 years.