My husband and I are buying a newly built flat in West Heath and my lawyer is telling me that she has to the lender to disclose incentives from the builder. I am under pressure to exchange and I have no desire to prolong deal. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your solicitor. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
We had selected conveyancing lawyers based in West Heath on the RBS solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a separate fee for handling the RBS mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by RBS?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your conveyancer can levy a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by RBS but by your West Heath solicitor. Plenty of firms on the RBS panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
My partner and I have arranged the release of further monies on our home loan from Bank of Ireland as we want to carry out a loft conversion to our house in West Heath. Are we obliged to choose a bricks and mortar West Heath solicitor on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?
Bank of Ireland don't usually instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel.
My offer on a semi in West Heath has been agreed to, but there is a chain. The owners have placed an offer on a property, however it’s not yet agreed to, and are looking at other apartments booked. I have instructed a high street conveyancing solicitor in West Heath. What should be my next step? At what point should I apply for the mortgage with Kent Reliance?
It is normal to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then valuation, West Heath conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you must ensure that your conveyancer is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Concerning the next stages this very much dictated by the circumstances of your transaction, desire for the property and on the state of the market. In a hot market some home buyers would apply for the mortgage with Kent Reliance and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they ask their lawyer to move forward with the conveyancing in West Heath.
Various internet forums that I have come across warn that are the number one cause of stalling in West Heath house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the conclusions of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the common causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of holding up conveyancing in West Heath.
I have been on the look out for a flat up to £305k and found one near me in West Heath I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in West Heath for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be an issue. Discount the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you could request that they commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
What does commercial conveyancing in West Heath cover?
West Heath conveyancing for business premises covers a broad array of advice, provided by qualified solicitors, relating to business property. For instance, this type of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more usually, the transfer of existing business tenancies or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial loans and the termination of tenancies.
Last August I purchased a leasehold property in West Heath. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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 am the leaseholder of a garden flat in West Heath. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the amount due for a lease extension?
Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a West Heath conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a West Heath residence is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 76 years.