This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as a first time purchaser of a ground floor flat in Hornchurch. Do I collect the keys to the property on the completion date from my solicitor? If so, I will instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Hornchurch?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the purchase money to the owner’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you should be invited to receive the keys from the selling Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.

When it comes to lenders such as Co-operative, do Hornchurch lawyers face an annual charge to be on the list of approved solicitors?

We are unaware of any lender fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.

After what feels like an age I have had an offer on a maisonette in Hornchurch accepted, the owners do however have a connected purchase. The owners have put an offer on a flat, however it’s not yet tied up, and have viewings of other apartments booked. I have instructed a local conveyancing solicitor in Hornchurch. What should be my next step? When do I get the mortgage application with RBS going?

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, Hornchurch conveyancing search charges, etc). First, you should check that your conveyancing practitioner is on the RBS approved list. As to the next steps this very much depends on the specifics of your transaction, desire for the property and on the state of the market. In a hot market the majority of buyers will apply for a home loan with RBS and pay for the valuation and only if it was satisfactory would they pay their property lawyer to move forward with searches.

Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Hornchurch?

Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the process of conveyancing in Hornchurch. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’

I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £305k and identified one close by in Hornchurch I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 51 remaining years left on the lease. There is not much else in Hornchurch for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?

Should you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be a potential deal breaker. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.

We're first time buyers - agreed a price, yet the property agent has warned us that the owners will only proceed if we use the agent's recommended conveyancers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local solicitor used to conveyancing in Hornchurch

We suspect that the owner is not behind this demand. Should the seller want ‘a quick sale', alienating a genuine buyer is counter productive. Avoid the agents and go straight to the owners and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with finances in place © you are unencumbered (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you will continue to use your preferred Hornchurch conveyancing solicitors - as opposed tothose that will give the negotiator at the agency a commission or meet his conveyancing targets pre-set by HQ.

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Hornchurch where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Hornchurch conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

After months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Hornchurch. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Hornchurch conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Hornchurch flat is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 57.5 years.