Our nephew is purchasing a house that has just been built in Whitechapel with a mortgage from Co-operative. His conveyancer has said that there is a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Co-operative 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 Co-operative conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
The Whitechapel conveyancing lawyers that just started acting on my house acquisition in Whitechapel have without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I had to have a firm on the Principality conveyancing panel and my preferred Whitechapel lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Principality conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to help.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in Whitechapel I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, however it's only got 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Whitechapel for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a short lease?
If you require a home loan that many years will likely 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 can request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor concerning this.
We're new on the property ladder - had an offer accepted, but the property agent advised that the seller will only move forward if we use the agent's chosen lawyers as they want an ‘expedited deal’. My instinct tells me that we should use a local conveyancer who is accustomed to conveyancing in Whitechapel
It is unlikely the sellers are behind this. If they desire ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a serious buyer is not the way to achieve this. Try to communicate with the sellers directly and make sure they understand (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you do not need to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you are going to appoint your own,trusted Whitechapel conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will earn their negotiator at the agency a referral fee or meet his conveyancing thresholds set by corporate headquarters.
We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Whitechapel. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a Whitechapel conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Whitechapel premises is 1-41 Royal Tower Lodge 40 Cartwright Street in April 2013. the tribunal adding the agreed value of capitalised ground rents and the reversion the price to be paid for the freehold was £1,187,000 This case affected 41 flats. The unexpired lease term was 107 years.
What makes a Whitechapel lease unmortgageable?
There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Whitechapel. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:
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Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property Insurance obligations
You may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Virgin Money, and TSB all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.
Do I cancel the direct debit for my mortgage with RBS once a completion date for my home sale in Whitechapel has been agreed?
No, you must continue meeting any mortgage sums to RBS until the mortgage is paid off on completion as part of your Whitechapel conveyancing.