I am in the throes of porting my domestic loan to a BTL Santander mortgage. I have been informed by my broker that I require a conveyancer as part of the process. I spoke to my previous West Smithfield conveyancing practitioner who acted on my behalf when I first purchased the property. The fee calculation e-mailed to me of £450 plus VAT is surprising as its a refinance than a sale or purchase.
The estimate does seem a little overpriced. Where you are content to spend time comparing charges you might trim some of the cost by perhaps £125. On the other hand, if you were happy with the conveyancing the firm provided you couldlive to rue choosing an an untested conveyancer. Remember to enquire the conveyancer can also act for Santander. You can make use of our search tool to get a quote a West Smithfield conveyancing firm on the Santander member panel, which can often include conveyancing solicitors in West Smithfield.
My nephew is purchasing a new build apartment in West Smithfield with a home loan from Bank of Ireland. His lawyer has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when asked. 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 Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
Completed the sale of my flat in West Smithfield last August but my buyer keeps e-mailing every few hours to say their solicitor is waiting to hear from mine. What should have happened now that I have sold?
Post completion of your house sale your conveyancer should send the transfer deeds and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s solicitors. If applicable, your solicitor must also confirm that the mortgage has been paid off to the purchasers conveyancers. There is unlikely to be post completion tasks unique to conveyancing in West Smithfield.
How does conveyancing in West Smithfield differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in West Smithfield contact us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is ready to move into. This is because builders in West Smithfield typically buy the real estate, 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 conveyancing solicitors 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 used to new build conveyancing in West Smithfield or who has acted in the same development.
I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and found one round the corner in West Smithfield I like with a park and transport links nearby, however it only has 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in West Smithfield in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
If you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the amount the lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this.
Last August I purchased a leasehold flat in West Smithfield. 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. 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 have had difficulty in seeking a lease extension in West Smithfield. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?
if there is a absentee freeholder 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 Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the price.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a West Smithfield property is Flat 89 Trinity Court Grays Inn Road in February 2013. the Tribunal found that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 should be £36,229. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 66.8 years.