We have rather assertive sellers who has suggested a exclusivity contract with a payment 6,000. Are such agreements promoted for Kensington conveyancing transactions?

This type of agreement is not the norm in Kensington, conveyancers are often inclined to direct clients away from them as they divert attention from the main conveyancing focus and if you end up having your deposit forfeited then the solicitor is left exposed. In addition, there is no certainty that just because the vendor has signed an exclusivity contract they will sell to you. They may breach the agreement if they receive a large enough offer to do so because a wronged party with the benefit of a lockoutcontract will still be obliged establish consequential losses from the breach and these may not amount to the financial upside that your seller may gain by reneging on the contract, however morally shameful that may be.

My wife and I purchased a renovated Victorian property in Kensington. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Bank of Scotland. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?

You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Kensington and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.

I'm buying my first flat in Kensington benefiting from help to buy. The developers would not reduce the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of additionals instead. The sale representative told me not inform my conveyancer about this deal as it would put at risk my loan with Nationwide Building Society. Should I keep quiet?.

All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.

Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.

Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.

I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. Kensington is where the house is located. Is there any advice you can give?

Flying freeholds in Kensington are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Kensington you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Kensington may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.

My partner and I may need to rent out our Kensington 1st floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Kensington conveyancing practice in 2002 but they have since shut and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease prohibits the subletting of the flat. How do we find out?

The lease governs relations between the landlord and you the leaseholder; specifically, it will set out if subletting is not allowed, or permitted but only subject to certain conditions. The accepted inference is that if the lease contains no expres ban or restriction, subletting is allowed. Most leases in Kensington do not contain an absolute prevention of subletting – such a provision would undoubtedly devalue the property. Instead, there is usually a basic requirement that the owner notifies the freeholder, possibly sending a copy of the tenancy agreement.

After months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Kensington. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Kensington residence 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 affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 37.79 years.