I am acquiring a house without a mortgage in West Kensington. I have lived for the previous 20 years in West Kensington. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. Given that I have knowledge of the road and vicinity very well must I have all the conveyancing searches?
If you not getting a mortgage, then almost all of the West Kensington conveyancing searches are at your discretion. Your conveyancer will 'advise', no-doubt strongly, that you should have searches done, but she is duty bound to take that path of advice. Do take into account; if you are going to sell the house in the future, it will be of relevance to your future buyer what the searches contain. There are plenty of instances where houses with functional issues can still throw up detrimental search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in West Kensington will be able to give you some sensible guidance concerning this.
How does conveyancing in West Kensington differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in West Kensington contact us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is completed. This is because house builders in West Kensington tend to 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 property lawyers 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in West Kensington or who has acted in the same development.
I decided to have a survey completed on a property in West Kensington prior to instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor has said that some banks may refuse to issue a loan on such a property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can check with the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in West Kensington. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
My husband and I are novice buyers - agreed a price, but the estate agent informed us that the vendor will only proceed if we appoint the agent's preferred lawyers as they need a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a family solicitor who is accustomed to conveyancing in West Kensington
We suspect that the seller is not behind this request. Should the seller want ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated purchaser is counter productive. Bypass the agents and go straight to the sellers and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you have nothing to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)however you will continue to instruct your own,trusted West Kensington conveyancing lawyers - as opposed tothe ones that will provide the negotiator at the agency a referral fee or meet his conveyancing targets demanded by senior management.
Last April I purchased a leasehold house in West Kensington. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?
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. Strange as it may seem, 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 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).
Having spent months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in West Kensington. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
if there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to determine the price.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a West Kensington flat is 93 Oakwood Court in June 2010. the LVT determined that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £492,083, This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 37.79 years.
Is it the case that all West Kensington property lawyers on every lender conveyancing panel?
You can use our search tool or you can pop into your high street bank branch in West Kensington. the probability is that they can recommend conveyancing solicitors in West Kensington